A Sparkle On The Hellmouth
by BrightStar Kenobi
Summary: Xander and the Scoobies find themselves on the Hellmouth on Halloween. Life will never be the same again for Xander Harris. Dawn will be in this story as a member born into the Summers family. How will the Scoobies cope with the consequences of Halloween. This will also be AU Post Breaking Dawn Twilight Book and Movie Part 2.
1. Chapter 1: A Costume Choice

Title: A Sparkle on the Hellmouth

Author: Brightstar Kenobi

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with either BtVS or Twilight, and will make no money off of this work. This has been reedited thanks to my wonderful Beta.

Author Notes 1: I am a first time writer, although I have been reading fanfiction for years on this site. I'd like to say thank you to my new beta reader, Starway Man, for editing this story.

Author Notes 2: I have adjusted the timeline to allow for the Twilight saga novels to be known to the Scooby Gang, so it is 2012 not 1997. Hope this is OK and not too far out of canon for you, dear readers.

Summary: The Scooby's find themselves on the Hellmouth during Halloween. Life will never be the same again for Xander Harris. Dawn will in this story as a member born into the Summers family. How will the Scooby's cope with the consequences of Halloween? This will also be AU Post Breaking Dawn Twilight Book not Movie.

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Chapter 1 - A Costume Choice

Xander, more formally known as Alexander Lavelle Harris, entered the newly opened costume store known as Ethan's with a sigh. His day had not gone well; actually, it had been more like disastrously disastrous.

First off, there was that humiliating experience with the jock known as Larry, which was only compounded by having to be defended by a girl. This girl was not just a girl, but also THE Buffy Summers. Hottie, unrequited crush and even the Vampire Slayer.

The next disaster was being cornered by Principal Snyder, otherwise known as the Troll, for Halloween escort duty. He couldn't escape his fate, any more than Buffy and his co-best friend Willow Rosenberg could.

Oddly, his girls had forced him to read a novel saga over the past fortnight. This saga was the cause of him being at the costume shop, not for a toy gun as he had originally planned – his military fatigues had been destroyed in a fit of rage by his drunken father – but for a complete costume. A costume for – agggh! – something he couldn't even vocalize in his own thoughts, despite his promise to Willow that he would wear such a thing for the festivities tomorrow night.

"Freaking troll, the two dollar costume dealie will not work for this one," Xander muttered, looking around the store - all hope fading of not having to dip into his savings to get what he wanted.

Xander moved around the store, eventually finding the parts needed for his costume from the bargain bin. Suddenly, without warning or any sound, the store owner appeared behind him.

"Garrghhh, don't do that!" Harris gasped, turning to face the costume shop owner.

The store owner replied, "Sorry lad didn't mean to scare you. I'm Ethan Rayne."

"Yeah. Okay. Well, I need to get something to complete my costume, apart from all this stuff – so, do you have any wristbands?" asked Xander.

"Yes I do, but the only ones in stock right now are from a set of books," said Ethan.

"Twilight?" asked Xander hopefully.

"Why, yes," Ethan smirked.

"Good, I'll take one. Hey, what's the funny?" Xander replied, after seeing the smirk on the store owner's face.

"Oh, nothing, just wondering who the girl is you are trying to impress?" Ethan asked.

"No one, this is just a favour for one of my friends," Xander replied – noting how this guy was British, and wondering if Giles had been the same when he was younger. Still, he was beginning to get annoyed and just wanted to get out of this store after making his purchases. "So, can I see 'em?"

Ethan showed Xander the wristbands, stating, "These were created for the movies that the books have been made into, my boy. Damn shame how this town's theatre, that Sun Cinema place, won't show those movies, what? Anyway, that will be $23.47 in total."

Handing over the money, Xander exited the store and quickly started off home. He had a costume to get ready. He would not be alone tomorrow night in his escort duties, as his girls would be escorts too.

It would be a night that would never be forgotten by any of them, either.

A/N: Please review and tell me how I am doing.


	2. Chapter 2: Costume Change

Chapter 2 – Costume Change

Xander felt slightly uncomfortable wearing the gold-colored contacts he had borrowed from his Uncle Rory. Heck, he felt more than a little uncomfortable wearing this costume, and swore he would dump it the first chance he got.

Harris rang the doorbell to 1630 Revello Drive, which was opened by Buffy's mom. Joyce Summers opened the front door to see her daughter's only male friend wearing...something, she couldn't identify what.

"I'm dressed as someone from a book saga the girls made me read lately, and I borrowed the contacts from my Uncle Rory," Xander said in reply to Joyce's unspoken question. "Mrs S, can you please not ask who I'm dressed up as?"

"Of course, dear." Joyce smiled as she called for Buffy and Willow to come downstairs. Then she rushed back to the kitchen as the phone rang.

Xander wondered if he should apologise to Buffy for what he'd said after she got rid of Larry yesterday. But his thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of Buffy dressed in a noblewoman's gown.

Xander immediately quipped, "Buffy! Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!"

Buffy laughed and smacked Xander lightly on his arm. "Quit it, Xander."

"Okay, okay," laughed Xander. "Where are Willow and Dawn?"

"Willow stayed upstairs to give me time to talk to you, and Dawn is meeting us at the school. Seems one of her friends had a major costume emergency."

"Okay. Something you want to talk about, Buffy?" asked Xander, he could tell there was something on the Slayer's mind.

"Look, Xander...I'm...really sorry about yesterday," Buffy replied, blushing. "Willow said...I shouldn't have embarrassed you like that."

"In that case, Buff, I need to apologise too for the way I reacted. I am kinda grateful you stepped in," Xander said, trying to meet Buffy halfway here.

"Good, and ohhh, you are gonna LOVE what Willow is wearing for tonight," squealed the Slayer. "She's a…" Buffy began to say, but she trailed off as Willow appeared at the top of the stairs wearing a white sheet with BOO written on it.

"Hey, Will, that's a fine…boo you got there," said Xander jokingly.

Willow looked down at her ghost outfit and replied "Thanks." She made her way down the stairs and Buffy said disapprovingly, "Willow..."

"What?" Xander said, looking confused.

"Nothing," Willow said, glaring at Buffy underneath the white sheet.

"It's not nothing, now what's going on?" asked Xander.

"It's just, I FINALLY managed to get Willow to go with the Goth Girl costume, and then she put on the chain rattler the moment my back was turned," Buffy sighed.

"BUFFY!" Willow said, outraged. Naturally, Xander asked to see the Goth girl outfit, and so much to the redhead's mortification, Buffy yanked off the white sheet.

There was a lot of babbling on Xander's behalf, but he soon calmed down and they all said goodbye to Mrs Summers, making their way to the high school. Arriving at the school, the three friends were met by Principal Snyder, who as always was in a bad mood around the three friends.

After assigning her the group of children Snyder left Buffy with a warning, "No need to speak to them. The last thing they need is your influence. Just bring them back in one piece, and I won't expel you."

Xander approached his group of children, noting the children were dressed as superheroes, Power Rangers, fairies and various other Halloween costumes. Typical rug-rat attire, nothing surprising.

"Hey, what are you supposed to be?" piped up one of the little boys in the back row.

"I'm a good guy, kid. Nice outfit," Xander replied, trying to remain civil. Way too many people had asked who he was dressed up as, and he was tired of explaining who it was.

Mollified, the boy did not reply. Turning back to the group of kids as a whole, Xander said "Okay kids, here are some tips on sleazing extra candy: tears are the key. Tears will normally get you the double-bagger. You can also try the old 'you missed me' routine, but it's risky. Only go there for chocolate. Understood? Okay, gang. Let's move out."

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5:45pm – Ethan's Costume Shop

The escort program was only from four till six, and so most of the high school students were preparing to finish up and head back to Sunnydale High. Unbeknownst to those at Sunnydale High and Sunnydale, though, things were about to change thanks to Ethan Rayne - who was on his knees before a statue of the Roman god known as Janus.

Ethan started chanting in Latin to evoke chaos, something that would reign supreme in Sunnydale tonight. As soon as the spell had begun, though, Ethan knew something was wrong - the British warlock discovered one of the costume changes required more magic than he'd anticipated tonight.

Out on the streets of Sunnydale, Xander Harris was about to tell all his children that it was time to head back to the high school – when suddenly, he doubled over in severe pain that began throbbing in every part of his body. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was that, whatever was happening, it wasn't affecting just him.

All over Sunnydale, those people in costumes purchased from Ethan's store became the real deal. And those people who were not in costume, or who had gotten their costumes from other hire stores, began screaming and fleeing in terror.

A/N: Please review. PLEASE.

Author Notes: This story will be mostly canon up until Chapter 4. Emmett may seem to be a bit OOC, but I tried to stick to the novels as best I could. Remember, Willow did not dress as a ghost and Dawn is still the Key but a year younger than Buffy.


	3. Chapter 3: Chaos Reigns

Chapter 3 – Chaos Reigns

Emmett Cullen opened his eyes, wondering why on earth he was lying in the middle of a street. The last thing the vampire remembered was kissing Rosalie after staring down the Volturi, and then going hunting.

Getting to his feet, Emmett looked around him at all the chaos. "Where am I, ROSALIE?!" he yelled.

Puzzled when his mate did not appear, he started looking around him at the humans running away from things chasing them. Thankful that had hunted before ending up here, the vampire turned to face the strange-looking creature heading towards him growling ferociously

"Oooooh, scary," Emmett said with a grin, starting forward. He grabbed the strange looking thing by the throat and held it high in the air.

"Wait, Xander, don't! It's just a little kid!" a female voice screamed out loud.

Turning around, Emmett saw a red-haired girl wearing a short black skirt and a crimson V-necked top. "I don't know who you are, but this thing attacked me – and I don't go down without a fight, girly," the vampire stated, still holding the growling/snarling thing at arm's length.

"It's a spell, I think," said the girl desperately. "Everybody's been turned into their costumes..."

Letting out a large growl and putting the creature down, which promptly stopped growling and ran in the opposite direction, Emmett asked the girl, "Where am I, and who are you?"

"You're in Sunnydale, California. I'm Willow and you're Xander. Well, you're in my friend Xander's body," the girl replied hesitantly, much to Emmett's disbelief.

"Buffy. We need to find Buffy, BUFFY!" yelled Willow, quickly walking towards where she last saw Buffy.

"Who or what is Buffy?" Emmett asked in confusion, following Willow. She didn't answer, so he just followed her, grumbling. Pretty soon, after rounding a corner, Emmett saw a black-haired girl wearing a red noblewoman's gown; she was looking around her in wide-eyed fear.

"Buffy!" Willow shouted, finally making the girl take notice of them. She walked over to them and Willow tried explaining about the spell that had turned her and Xander into their costumes. But the explanation was cut short by a car driving past.

"A demon! A demon!" screamed Lady Buffy and grabbing hold of Emmett tightly.

Willow tried to calm her down by explaining, "It's not a demon, it's a car."

"What does it want?" Lady Buffy asked, finally letting go of Emmett.

Suspecting that Willow had spoken the truth, and glad to have someone else in the same boat as him, Emmett said, "We must have some kind of amnesia – although I'm not sure I can have it. I wonder if we can find Carlisle. He'll know..."

Lady Buffy took offense at Emmett's words and said haughtily, "I don't know what that is, but I'm certain I don't have it. I bathe quite often!"

Looking exasperated, Emmett replied, "So how do you explain all this, and not being where we were barely five minutes ago?"

"I don't! I was brought up a proper lady. I-I wasn't meant to understand things. I'm just meant to look pretty, and then someone nice will marry me, possibly a Baron," said Lady Buffy.

Emmett gritted his teeth again, wondering if Jasper or Carlisle had met girls like Buffy. "This isn't a tea party, princess. If we don't get you somewhere safe soon, you'll probably have to fight for your life!"

Lady Buffy replied rather huffily, "Fight these low creatures? I'd sooner die."

Emmett snorted at that remark and turned to Willow, "What now?"

"We need to find Giles, he's at the high school. Bring her," replied Willow, heading towards the direction of Sunnydale High with Emmett and Buffy following. The noblewoman wasn't exactly happy about not being taken to her family estate immediately, but even with her 1775 mind-set she knew better than to go it alone in this strange, terrifying village.

Anyway, the trio soon entered the library where Rupert Giles was organizing the library catalogue. "Giles, we have a problem. Xander and Buffy have been turned into their Halloween costumes, just like most of Sunnydale!" Willow said, sitting down at the research table after bursting in through the door.

"What?" Giles blinked in confusion.

"You heard her," Emmett sneered at the older British man. "The name's Emmett. And this is...Buffy," he gestured at the noblewoman.

"That is NOT my name!" Lady Buffy fumed angrily.

"Good Lord. Willow, how is it you've not been turned into your costume, a-and is it possible that some people have not either?" asked Giles.

"Well, I figure maybe it's because I didn't get my costume from a store, Buffy helped me put it together – but she and Xander bought theirs from somewhere," replied Willow.

"Where did they get them?" asked Giles, thinking to him that it could be a mage of some sort who was responsible for all this.

"That new place, Ethan's," Willow replied, surprising Giles – who quickly hid his rising anger.

"Thank you, Willow. Now give me the address, and I will go to this Ethan's place and find out if there is any connection to what is happening," Giles said forcefully.

"No way should you go alone," Emmett said, surprising everyone and prompting Giles to ask Willow, "Who exactly did Xander go as? I mean, who – who is this Emmett person supposed to be?"

"I'm not sure, because me and Buffy weren't there when Xander got his costume; he said he had a few things to do before meeting us at Ethan's Costume Shop," Willow said, not making the connection with the Twilight books.

"In that case, you all should stay - as I don't know that you will be safe out there tonight!"

With that, Giles headed out the door and he never noticed Emmett smirking at the last comment. No one present did.

The women sat at the research table, but Emmett suddenly smelt something – wrong.

He ran at human speed to not scare the girls and grabbed the creature that looked human that was climbing out of the grate in the back of the stacks. "Who and what are you?" Emmett demanded, snarling and baring his fangs while holding the thing at arm's length like he did earlier tonight.

"I'm Angel. I'm – Xander, what's happened to you?" Angel replied, looking confused.

"Angel!" Willow cried. "Emmett, put him down, he's a friend!"

"Emmett?" Angel asked, after Emmett had let go of his throat and put him down.

"Uh, Xander and Buffy got turned into their costumes, just like a lot of other people, Giles is out finding out why," Willow replied hurriedly. "It's – complicated."

Angel, Willow and Emmett went back to the main table to join Lady Buffy, with Emmett watching Angel all the way, wondering why he smelt dead. The soul-cursed vampire didn't smell like one of his own kind, but he didn't smell human either. Finally Emmett asked him, "Why do ya smell like death?"

"Angel's a vampire. But he's a good vampire, he's on our side," Willow said worriedly.

"You're a vampire? That's ridiculous!" Emmett snorted.

"No. I'm a vampire. You're the thing that doesn't belong here, the product of the spell or whatever," Angel replied stonily.

"What do you eat?" asked Emmett, wanting to know if this vampire lived his lifestyle or whether he would need to burn him.

"I drink animal blood," replied Angel, which luckily prevented any bloodshed of the undead kind.

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6:30pm – Ethan's Costume Shop

Ethan Rayne lay on the floor of his store next to the statue of Janus, recovering from the ritual. "I wonder if Rupert will realize his little friends have been changed anytime soon?" Ethan asked himself aloud.

"Oh, I already know," growled Giles, also known as Ripper to his friends, as he entered the back room of the store.

"Ripper! How are you, me old mate?" Ethan asked, picking himself off the floor.

"You shouldn't have come here, Ethan, now how did you do it?" asked Ripper.

"Wouldn't you like to know," said Ethan with a smirk.

"Either tell me NOW, or I'll beat it out of you," a growling Ripper said, before punching Ethan in his jaw.

Ethan stumbled back, holding his jaw. "Where's the fun in that, Ripper?" he asked facetiously.

But Ethan soon realized saying this was a mistake, when he received a punch to the solar plexus doubling him over gasping for air. "Ow!"

"Alright, a beating it is," growled Ripper, bringing a knee into Ethan's nose.

Rayne fell backwards, holding his bloody nose as Ripper rained down a flurry of blows. Kicking Ethan in the ribs Ripper stepped back and said, "How do I break the spell, Ethan? I won't ask again."

"Break the bust," Ethan gasped, coughing up blood.

Immediately, Ripper went to the bust of Janus and picked it up. He threw it on the floor, where it smashed into many pieces. A sound like howling wind emitted from it, and then died down.

"Right. That's done. Now you better not be here when I come back tomorrow, Ethan – or I'll finish what I've started here tonight," Ripper said angrily, exiting the store and leaving Ethan bleeding and broken on the floor.

A/N: Please review. PLEASE.


	4. Chapter 4: Consequences

Chapter 4 – Consequences

Giles eventually came back the school library, and after checking everyone was okay, Xander went home. He walked to his house in a semi-daze, stumbling to his room and crashing onto his bed fully clothed – exhausted after tonight's events.

Little did Xander know the changes that would occur in his body while he slept, as Ethan had suspected would happen after discovering why more magic was needed for tonight's chaos stunt than he'd expected. Oddly, the magic in Xander's system insured he would feel no pain while the changes occurred.

Venom began to flow like the strong flowing current of a river, mending fractures and breaks. Bruises hidden under applied makeup begin to fade and disappear, as if they were never there. Scars too began to fade, and problems with eyesight and organ damage simply vanished. Cells begin to crystallize and skin harden. Muscle mass increased and beneath closed eyelids, Xander's irises changed color again for the last time.

Xander opened his eyes and sat up in his bed, putting his head in his hands. He remembered Emmett's life, from childhood to the bear attack and up to kissing his angelic Rosalie.

'Whoa - MY Rosalie? What hell has happened to me?' Xander thought to himself, going to the bathroom for a look in the mirror.

But as he opened the bathroom door the handle broke in his hand, much to the teenager's surprise. Shaking his head at the disrepair of the house, Xander turned to the mirror – and froze in sheer shock.

Gone was the face he knew; and in its place was the face of an extraordinarily handsome and thoroughly undead individual. The one and only Emmett Cullen.

Xander also quickly realized he was taller than he had been before Halloween. Trying not to freak out and lose it completely, the male teen dressed in fresh clothing and saw he had far more muscle mass than – before. Whereas before he'd had some muscles slaying alongside Buffy, he now looked like he could take out vampires using no weapons other than his bare hands.

But there was a downside – his skin was not the sun-bronzed color of a native-born Californian anymore. Rather, it was like marble and very pale. Vampire pale. All the scars and bruises from his father's abuse were gone. But his eyes were no longer brown, rather - a deep red. Blood red.

Xander knew he had changed into something he did not want to acknowledge; a vampire. And not a normal vampire either, a Twilight vampire. A – sparkle-pire. Oh, that freaking out thing was about to go sky-high!

Hearing thumping noises and footsteps, Xander turned and faced the door. He suddenly realized the thumping was two separate heartbeats. A burning sensation then made itself aware in his throat; it was painful, like he had swallowed knives. The burning sensation got worse, as Xander swallowed reflexively and tried to ignore the need to feed. To feed on blood.

"BOY, GET OUT HERE NOW! I SAID MOVE IT, YOU LITTLE **!" yelled Tony Harris. The bathroom door then crashed open, as his drunken father stumbled into the room.

Tony Harris looked at his son in his drunken haze, and what he saw made him stop dead. The kid had begun to growl ferociously, with his eyes a deep red color. He had gotten taller and more muscular, too...

Tony instantly forgot about taking a ** and ran out of the room, wondering what the hell his boy had done to himself. He sobered up fast, quickly running back to his bedroom and locking the door behind him.

After his father had gone Xander panicked and wondered, 'What hell was I doing? I need to speak with Giles!'

Grabbing the hooded jacket from last night and sunglasses, he headed out his window. As soon he hit the ground, his skin began to sparkle like diamonds. It was not unexpected, but nonetheless Xander ran as fast as he could towards the school. While he was running, he noticed he was running extremely fast – far faster than a human. Panicking even more than he already was, he kept running for Slayer Central.

Xander entered the library, hearing a heartbeat and hoping that whatever was happening to him the Watcher could fix it. "Hey Giles, you here? We got a problem!" Xander said, panic evident in his voice.

Xander was really, really glad when he heard Giles' voice. "Xander, where have you been?" asked the Watcher, exiting from his private office.

"Giles? What do you mean, where have I been?" Xander asked in response.

Rupert noted that Xander was not wearing his usual bright clothing, but instead was wearing dark clothing with a hooded jacket; with the hood pulled up and sunglasses. He did not like that – at all. "It's Monday morning, boy, and even Willow couldn't get hold of you throughout the weekend. Are you alright Xander, you look – different," said Giles, noting that Xander had used his proper name.

"Uh..." Xander stammered, not sure how to explain what he thought was going on.

"You can trust me, Xander; just tell me what's wrong," Giles said, hoping to put the boy at ease and confide in him.

"I hope so Giles, I really do because I think what happened to me on Halloween – it kinda stuck," Xander said tentatively, taking off his sunglasses and pulling down his hood.

"What are you..." But then Giles looked at the boy and instantly realized why he had said that. "Good Lord!"

Indeed, because Xander was paler than any human Giles had ever seen, and his eyes were a deep red color; not his usual chocolate-brown. "What happened?"

"I broke a door this morning, I growled at my dad like an animal and I keep getting a burning sensation in my throat like I'm swallowing knives. HELP me, Giles, please!" said Xander in panic.

"Who did you dress as on Halloween, Xander?" Giles asked gently, secretly dreading the truth.

"It was a character from the Twilight saga called Emmett Cullen, uh – he was a vampire," replied Xander, looking at Giles with pure fear in his eyes. "But not the ordinary type of vampire Buffy slays – more like a, uh, sparkle-pire, I guess. Damn it, Giles, I can't go out into the sunlight anymore seeing as I sparkle, so what am I going to do? If I've become a vampire – I don't want to hurt anyone!" Xander said desperately.

"You mentioned a burning sensation in your throat. You need to feed, don't you?" Giles said, moving back. "Do you, uh, that type of vampire, does it – need human blood?"

"What? NO! And oh my God, I've got to pull a Dead Boy and drink blood now?" Xander looked horrified. "Giles, help! You've got to fix this! PLEASE!"

Giles walked over to the boy, and he said hesitantly, "I will do everything in my power to help you, Xander, I promise."

A/N: Please review folks, I hope you like the story. I am open to criticism so please let me know what you like and don't like about this fic. Thanks to all those people who are following the story. A special thank-you to Starway Man for being my beta. Also thanks to Drake-Dragon 101 for being the first person to favorite this story.


	5. Chapter 5: Unforseen Allies Part 1

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since my last chapter. This chapter will be AU although some canon will be mentioned and if characters appear OOC that is unintentional. Hope you like!

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Chapter 5 – Unforeseen Allies Part 1

Cordelia Chase, the self-styled Queen C of Sunnydale High, leader of the popular girls known as the Cordettes, awoke in her queen sized bed - and lay there, frozen in horror.

Memories passed through her mind, memories which were not her own. She remembered being raised in Rochester, New York and meeting Royce. There was fear and horror from the memory of her rape, and being brutally beaten by him and his friends in 1933.

'MY fiancé? No way…I…I wasn't even alive back then! Oh my God, how can I...that wasn't me, oh God it WASN'T me!' Cordelia thought frantically, even as Rosalie's memories of being found by Carlisle Cullen on the brink of death, and the days of never-ending agony that had followed, threatened to overwhelm her.

Feeling slightly panicky with memories of thoughts and feelings that were not her own, Cordelia got out her bed and went into her on-suite. The panic only increased when Cordelia saw herself in her full length mirror.

Her hair, which had been brown and shoulder length the evening before, was now a golden blonde colour flowing midway down her back, shimmering like a golden waterfall. Eyes that had once been hazel were now red. Skin that was a sun-bronzed from years of sunbathing on her father's terrace and on foreign shores was now pale and cold to her touch.

Cordelia then realized something was missing, something very important. NO heartbeat, NO breathing! Cordelia began to panic even further, when she realized she was not breathing and heart was no longer beating.

"Oh God, oh God, I'm a vampire, I'm a VAMPIRE!" Cordelia spoke aloud, taking unneeded gasping breaths.

"I'm a vampire, a vampire, a vampire …." she cried, slumping to floor in disbelief and feeling her world crashing and burning all around here.

Cordy was brought back to the present when she heard footsteps and a noise, Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump. A smell reached her nostrils, which put Cordelia in mind of polish and an undercurrent of jasmine. A human being was coming towards her room.

Now Queen C may have been a total **, but she SO did not want to taste human blood. Despite that, though, a burning sensation made itself painfully aware in her throat. Feeling like she had swallowed knives and feeling like she needed to get out of there before she hurt someone, Cordelia sprinted for her balcony.

Stepping out of her room and letting the sun's rays envelop her, Cordelia began to sparkle like the world's largest living diamond. Having had more than enough horrors for one lifetime, Cordelia decided to take action.

Seeing none of her father's staff were about, she simply jumped off the balcony. Running off, Cordelia missing hearing the voice of her maid Lupe who started looking around the room Cordelia had just vacated.

"Miss Chase, are you alright? You have been in your room for three days, Miss Chase...?"

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It was like one second she was outside on her balcony, but the next Cordelia was outside Sunnydale High.

Realizing there was only one place she could go in the situation she currently found herself in, she headed for the library. Once again, Cordelia found she smelt something – but in this case, it seemed to be two separate things.

One smell was of old musty books and a strange bitter taste which she could not put her finger on. The second smelt very, very intense - indescribable - and she instinctively felt drawn to it. But then Cordy noticed that whoever was inside, only one had a heartbeat.

With only one thought on her mind - to find Giles - Cordelia burst through the doors, only to find Giles standing near a man who looked remarkably like Emmett Cullen from the Twilight Saga Cordelia had read about a few short weeks before.

"Giles help, I'm a vampire, I can smell and hear things, I can sparkle like a diamond, I can run really fast and I think I nearly attacked my maid but I ran off before that could happen..." babbled Miss Chase.

"Err, I'm sorry – but who are you?" Giles asked in confusion. He was not all that surprised at seeing another person affected by Ethan's chaos the previous night, though.

"It's me, Cordelia!" the young woman cried, beginning to panic anew at Giles not recognizing her and the thought that he would not help her.

"You, too?" asked the Emmett lookalike, staring at the blonde vampires.

Xander was shocked. And not only because he had been too absorbed in his thoughts to hear Cordelia approach. He had realized, as he took stock of his situation, that he could smell the two people in the room and further afield. Giles smelt of old musty books, kinda like the library, and of something that had a strange, bitter taste. Harris suddenly realized that he could also smell Cordelia, who now smelt of something he couldn't identify - but definitely liked.

'WHOA! Like, this is Cordelia Chase here. What is happening to me? Great googly-moogly, this may be worse than being a vampire...'

"Giles, you have got to help me!" said the female cause of thoughts Xander did SO not want to think about.

"I think, Miss Chase, the same occurrence has happened to you that has happened to Xander here," Giles said, taking his glasses off and polishing them with his cloth.

"XANDER?! Wait up - is that really you, dorkhead?" Cordelia exclaimed in surprise.

"The one and only, Cordy. Okay, I look like Emmett Cullen now the same way you look like Rosalie, but still..." Xander shrugged.

Cordy checked him out, liking what she saw more and more. "I gotta say it, doofus; the new look is definitely an improvement on the old one!"

"Yes, moving on," Giles said, seeing Xander's scowl. "Did you perhaps get your Halloween costume from Ethan's store?"

"YES, I did - but only because Party Town had mixed up their orders and sold the costume I was going to buy!" cried Cordelia. "I WOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS, IF IT WASN'T FOR THEM!" yelled the new vampiric blonde.

Finally having enough and reaching breaking point, Cordy swung her fist at the book cage; putting a dent in the cage and taking the door partially of it hinges. Falling to the floor, she began to dry sob and rock back and forth. And even though he kind of felt like an idiot for doing this, Xander - not caring whether this was the girl who had made Willow's and his life hell since kindergarten, and realizing they were now in this mess together - knelt at Cordelia's side.

"Cordelia? Don't cry. Look, I know we aren't friends or anything, but we have known each other all our lives, so I...I guess what I'm trying to say is, I-I'm here for you," Xander said awkwardly.

Truly needing some comfort right now, and from someone whom she wasn't tempted to sink her fangs into and feed upon, Cordelia turned and wrapped her arms around Xander's neck, sobbing the only way she now could.

Xander, for his part, just held her close. After realizing that they had both changed, that they were now both sparkle-pires – although whatever had possessed Cordelia to dress up like Rosalie, he couldn't possibly fathom – well, Xander figured the past was best ignored right now, if they were to get through this.


	6. Chapter 6: Unforseen Allies Part 2

Chapter 6 – Unforeseen Allies Part 2

`Thought`

"Speech"

Giles looked on, stunned, as the two unlikeliest people in Sunnydale High to draw comfort from each other sat on the library floor in front of him. He promised himself he would do everything in his power to help these unfortunate children, even if he didn't have a clue how right now.

Clearing his throat, Giles said, "Um, I'm sorry, err, Cordelia, Xander – but, err, I'm afraid we need to move you somewhere else."

"W...w...why?" asked Cordelia, looking towards the Watcher while still clinging to Xander like a life raft.

"Buffy," Xander stated, rubbing circles on Cordelia's back. "She won't understand," he added, helping the newly blonde girl up.

"Xander's right, I'm afraid; I, I need to explain everything to her first. Otherwise, given h-how you two no longer look like yourselves – she, she'll most likely attack you on sight, assuming you both register as regular vampires to her Slayer sense."

"What do we do, Giles? And sorry I forgot to mention the running fast thing, but things have been kinda confusing – and I only realized I could do the whole vamp smelling thing when Cordy got here," Xander babbled.

With Xander and Cordelia both looking to him for answers, Giles felt the truth was best. Taking a deep breath looking at the clock, he noted that it was now 8:45 am. Willow and Buffy would be here any minute, in fact they were both running rather late.

"It's understandable, Xander, you have rather a big shock," replied Giles. "I think we should get you and Cordelia somewhere safe. Given that neither of you can go home in your current state, my apartment will have to do," Rupert said, thinking quickly.

"I just have to find that small-minded little tyrant and make my excuses to Principal Snyder, before I take you both home in my car," he then said in reply to Xander's original question.

Soon after finding the pathetic excuse of a principal and giving him the excuse that he had a family emergency to attend to, Giles headed out to the staff parking lot, where his Citroen was parked. He unlocked the vehicle and took out the blanket from the boot, before discovering two human-shaped lumps on his backseat and the blanket missing from his hands.

Giles spluttered, "What on earth-!?"

"Relax, Giles, no one saw us; we used vamp speed," Xander's voice spoke from the backseat, slightly muffled by the blanket. For her part, Cordelia just let out a muffled sob underneath the blanket before Xander squeezed her hand tightly in response.

"Xander, we need to get you twosome...food, err, and can your kind of vampire drink pig's blood?"

"Yeah," came the single-word response from Xander, as well as another sob from Cordelia.

With a quick stop at the local butcher's shop, which was managed by someone who had few scruples about whom he sold, and getting enough blood to last a week, the Watcher headed home. Pulling up to the front door, Giles quickly got the two newly-made vampires into the house.

The true horror of the situation then finally hit Cordy and Xander like a ton of bricks, who then simply walked over to the couch in a daze and sat down. For his part, Giles headed into the kitchen and began to warm up some blood in a couple of mugs; mugs he made a mental note to throw away afterwards. And while the microwave heated up the porcine blood, Giles thought over what to do.

'First thing is to feed those two in order to sate their bloodlust, with Xander most likely being the easier of the two to accept drinking blood. Cordelia, I suspect, will be more difficult...' But then Rupert's thoughts were interrupted when Xander appeared in the kitchen, and asked the same question he had been thinking.

"Giles, how are we going to get Cordy to drink blood?" asked Xander.

"Err, we may need to take our time about it, I suspect she-she may become so thirsty that her instinct to drink the blood may overwhelm all rational thought. Best not to force the girl into anything," Giles replied sagely.

"No. You don't want to see what a sparkle-pire is like when they're starving, Giles. Cordy would more likely go straight for your jugular! I'll do it, Giles, I think she trusts me right now," Xander said uncomfortably.

With the ding of the microwave announcing the blood was ready, Xander picked his and Cordelia's mug up and walked into the living room, before he placed his mug on the table. Kneeling by Cordelia, Xander looked into her eyes.

"Cordy, you need to drink this," Xander said simply.

"I can't…I mean, blood? That's GROSS!" Cordelia said, beginning to tremble.

"I know, Cordy. But if you can remember everything about Rosalie's life, like I can remember everything about Emmett's? Then you KNOW what'll happen if you don't feed. So take my advice, and don't think about it – just do it," Xander said softly, putting his hand on her arm and handing her the mug.

Giles stepped into the kitchen, realizing Cordelia would not want an audience for this. "Giles?" he heard the undead cheerleader say from the couch.

Coming out of the kitchen, the British man looked Cordelia in the eye, sensing this was what the teen needed. "Yes, Cordelia?" he asked, kneeling at her side.

"If I drink this, does that mean I'll become a monster?" Cordelia asked, looking at Giles with her eyes full of fear.

"Cordelia, the fact that you did not attack me or your maid, even when your instincts demanded you do so, tells me that you are a very strong person, even if you are...different, now. No vampire can ever say they have such restraint, even Angel," Giles said with complete sincerity.

"Drink up, Cordy," said Xander, getting up and sitting next to Cordelia after realizing why she was afraid. They both needed to do this as the same time.

Still looking at Giles, Cordelia put her mug to her lips - and with her fangs making their first appearance, she drank deeply. The blood tasted horrible, but it was what she needed so she gulped it all without complaint – ditto Xander. Giles kept looking into Cordelia's eyes and smoothed a hair that began to dangle in front of her mug.

"I'm here for you, Cordelia, as well as you Xander, in any way you may need," said Giles, reaching over and squeezing Xander's forearm in a gesture of support. Once they had finished, after ten more mugs of blood, the pair stated they were no longer hungry. Giles noticed that after feeding, both teenagers' eyes were now a honey-gold colour. 'Odd, that...'

"Giles, don't you need to go see Buffy?" asked Xander. It had been quite a while since they'd arrived here in Rupert's condo, after all, and the Chosen One would most likely be wondering where he was.

"Will you two be alright here, all alone?" Giles asked worriedly.

"We'll be fine, Giles, so you'd best get goin'. Buffy needs to know what's happened to us," replied Xander, looking at Cordelia who just nodded in response.

"You have the library's number, don't you Xander?" asked Giles.

"Yes, now please go to school, Giles!" pleaded Xander.

"Alright, but, uh, only if you feel sure that you don't need me for anything," Giles said hesitantly.

"We'll be okay here until you get back this afternoon," said Xander, with Cordelia unconsciously leaning into him for support, nodding silently. Harris then added, "Go, do the whole research thing. We'll go through the books you have here."

"Well, uh, unless you know ancient Sumerian or half a dozen other languages..." Giles started to say hesitantly, before he reassured the teens he would be back and to call him if they needed anything.

Rupert got into his ancient, decrepit car and headed back to Sunnydale High, deep in thought. Deep down, he was worried about the boy he secretly considered a son and the girl who'd had her world turned upside down and inside out. Both would need lots of support through the coming days and beyond, before he could fix this.

Assuming, of course, that all this COULD be fixed somehow.

Author`s Notes

A/N: Wow, once I start writing, this fic seems to flow and I'm hoping you like it. And I know Xander and Cordelia are acting a bit out of character, but hey! They are in shock and are literally not themselves. Please review and tell me what you think should happen between Cordy and Xander while they are home alone, and what happens when Giles spills the beans to Buffy and Willow in the library.


	7. Chapter 7: Halloween Tales

Chapter 7 – Halloween Tales

Sunnydale High Library, 12:00pm

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was pacing up and down within Slayer Central, wondering where the heck her Watcher was.

Thinking over what had happened last Friday night, Buffy had to admit that she was still struggling to accept the fact that she was now adept in the French language, and that she knew how to sew and stitch together a dress from scratch. And in the middle of thinking how she had NO desire to be a seamstress after graduating high school, Buffy had also been wondering how her Xander-shaped friend was and where he had been for the last three days.

He wasn't answering his phone, and it wasn't like she and Willow could go over to Xander's house and bang on the door to see if he was alright. That would have been too suspicious where the parental units were concerned.

"Buffy, relax. I'm sure Giles will be back soon," Buffy's redheaded best girl friend spoke up.

Despite her words, though, Willow Rosenberg sat at the main table in full 'worried about Xander' mode. Still recovering herself from being turned into a ghost during Halloween, Willow was really hoping her secret crush was okay - and she was also feeling real guilty right now, that she had made him read those Twilight books.

"Willow, please - don't. I mean, we don't know where Giles is, or where Xander is either!" Buffy said, still pacing.

"Giles and Xander will be..." replied Willow, but her speech was interrupted as one half of their conversation came through the library doors.

Giles entered the library, both annoyed that he'd gotten accosted by that sniveling little troll on the way here and nervous of what was to come in the next few hours. His Slayer, he noted, was agitatedly pacing around the room with Willow sitting at the table looking worried.

"GILES! Where have you been?" Buffy and Willow asked in perfect unison.

"Buffy, Willow – please, h-hang on a moment," Giles replied, putting his glasses on.

The Watcher placed his briefcase and jacket in his office and locked the library doors, while covering the windows. Both girls were a little surprised by that, but said nothing. Rupert then motioned for Buffy to sit at the table with Willow, and quickly took a seat himself.

"Right, now firstly, I need to know exactly what happened to you both on Halloween; and any leftover effects from the last three days. Secondly, y-you need to listen to what I have to say, WITHOUT immediately over-reacting," Giles said, with a pointed look at his Slayer.

"Okay, Giles, we will," said Willow, with a look of slight confusion on her face.

"Sure, Giles, whatever," said Buffy, even if there was a slightly suspicious look on her teenage features.

"Well, alright; n-now, who'll go first?" asked Giles.

"I will," said Willow shyly. She took a deep breath, and started to speak.

"I...I dressed up as a ghost and we were trick-or-treating, and we'd just gotten to the last house and then I couldn't breathe. Then I fell over, and the next thing I know, I'm a ghost! I started running around Sunnydale, and then I met Xander, and he was - oh God, Xander…Giles, is he alright? Have you seen him, is he hurt?" Willow babbled, in one big rush.

"Willow, we, we'll get to that later, now please – keep going. I need to know everything," replied Giles, trying to calm the red-haired girl down.

"Well, like I said, after I turned into a ghost I met Xander - but he, he wasn't really Xander. He, he'd become his Halloween costume – the, the Twilight vampire named Emmett Cullen. He grabbed a little boy turned into a demon by the throat, and he was about to..." Willow said, before trailing off and looking sick.

"Willow, please – focus," said Giles, urging her to go on.

"Okay, well, I got the Emmett-Xander to come with me and then we found Buffy, who wasn't herself but rather – Lady Buffy. I got 'em to follow me here and then we met you, and you pretty much know the rest. Oh, and I keep thinking I can still walk through solid objects even though I can't, I mean seriously I have got the bruises and ouchies to prove it!" Miss Rosenberg said in her patented Willow-babble mode, finishing the last of her tale.

"Right, um, let's review. Willow, you were a generic ghost and the after-effects are that you, you think you can walk through walls as well as solid objects, is that correct?" Giles asked.

"Yeah," replied Willow meekly.

"Alright, then. Buffy, let's hear your story, shall we?" asked Giles.

"Well, y'know, last week we went and bought our Halloween costumes from that guy, Ethan," Buffy began to say. She did not appear to notice how, gritting his teeth in anger, Giles took a deep breath and exhaled to rid himself of his anger at what his old 'friend' had done to the town's children and adults.

"Yes, Buffy, I know that part; please continue," Giles said way too calmly.

"Okay. Well, we were trick-or-treating like Willow said, and then I just – well, I was possessed, just like everyone else. It's like I was there, but I was just a spectator watching my body acting like feminism and Girl Power totally didn't even exist! And when it was all over, I had all these funky memories that weren't even mine."

"What sort of memories, Buffy?" Giles asked slowly.

"Errmm, I remembered that whoever that 1775 noblewoman was, she had never seen a car before, and that she was scared when Angel came to sit at the table. But on the brighter side, I am SO going to ace French from now on. Oh, and Home Ec, because now I can sew stuff and everything!" Buffy said, smiling.

Glad someone was happy from their possession and hating himself for spoiling that happiness, Giles took a deep breath and said, "I, I'm glad you're happy concerning your new skills, of course. But I need you two to listen now; especially you, Buffy..." the Watcher looked worriedly at the two girls, anticipating their reaction.

Looking shocked at the Watcher's demeanor and not knowing what he was going to say, Buffy and Willow glanced at each other in alarm. Never thinking for a moment that what Giles was about to say would change everyone's relationships, and turn their whole worlds upside down.


	8. Chapter 8: Shocking News

Chapter 8 - Shocking News

"Err, you both know that Xander was turned into a vampire from the Twilight Saga novels, but what you two don't know is…" Giles trailed off, uncertain as to how to proceed.

"Giles, please, just tell us! What's wrong with Xander?!" begged Willow, full of fear and concern for her best friend-slash-childhood crush.

Taking his glasses off and rubbing them vigorously, Giles left the female pair dangling for a while as he took yet another series of deep breaths. One realization on the way back to the school which had hit Giles like a ton of bricks, was that it was going to be very hard to say aloud what he had to say - but he needed to tell them the cold, harsh truth. So lifting his head, Giles began to speak.

"He...Xander...he's not… the transformation was different from your own. In terms of after-effects," Giles eventually managed to say.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy demanded.

"Yeah!" Willow echoed, looking scared to death almost.

"I mean...the boy no longer looks like himself, and he now has the body of a vampire. Err, a sparkle-pire, I believe Xander called it," Giles confessed at last.

"WHAT?!" both Buffy and Willow screamed in shock.

"Giles, are you telling me that Xander didn't go back to normal after Friday night? But that's insane, I SAW him leave the library – and HE LOOKED NORMAL!" the Slayer exploded in disbelief.

"Yes. But, err, as I said, the after-effects were...different for him. Not that I'm any expert on the subject, mind you, but chaos magic i-is like that. And err, apparently - he was not the only one who was transformed into that, that sort of vampire," Giles added painfully.

"What?" Willow squeaked. "You mean – we've got ANOTHER sparkle-pire on our hands? Well, who is it?"

"Miss Chase," Giles confessed, much to Buffy and Willow's shock. "It would appear that Cordelia, errr, dressed up as another vampire – a blonde female – from the Twilight series. She, too, has been transformed since Friday night into the, the creature she dressed up as. I didn't even remotely recognize her, when-when the girl barged into the library this morning and confronted Xander and myself..."

"Where are they, Giles? Where are Xander and Cordelia right now?" Willow demanded urgently.

"Err, a relatively safe place. It's, um, n-not like either of them could stay here, or even go home," Giles pointed out. "That, that would lead to all sorts of problems."

"I don't believe this," Willow looked completely shell-shocked, collapsing back against her chair.

"Well, what do we do?" Buffy said urgently. "I mean, Giles – you CAN fix this, right? Get Xander back to normal? Oh, and Cordelia as well?"

"I don't know," Rupert said truthfully, even though it was obvious that was not what the girls were wanting to hear. "Chaos magic is, is just that. Chaotic. Unpredictable. The only one who might be able to fix this is Ethan; or, or else his patron god, Janus. If I try to undo what's happened to them, there's a good chance I-I-I might kill Xander and Cordelia," Giles said, looking worriedly at the girls for their reactions.

Swallowing the lump that had made itself at home in his throat, Giles could only watch as Willow immediately burst into tears. His Slayer looked close to tears as well, even though there was also a slightly murderous look with regards to Ethan, if Ripper's judgment was correct.

"Giles, where is that Ethan guy? I want to kill him; I wanna make him pay for what he did!" Buffy screamed angrily, banging her fist into the table and leaving a large dent.

"G-Giles, is there anything we...can...d-do for Xander?" sobbed Willow. "O-oh, and Cordelia t-too?"

"Apart from helping me research how to undo what was done to them, I-I can't think of anything, Willow," Giles shrugged helplessly. "This is, um, all totally unprecedented, I'm afraid."

"Giles, please tell me we don't have to stake Xander? I, I…can't do it, I…I saw...w-what h-he w-went th-th-through last year w-with Jes...Jessie, I, can't…I can't do it…" Buffy choked out, all the anger from a moment ago having temporarily vanished into oblivion.

The toll made itself known as the dam finally broke for Buffy, who burst into tears just like Willow had done. Both girls clung to each other, sobbing and mourning the loss of Xander as they knew him. Walking over to the two teens, Giles placed his arms around both girls and voiced the promise he had made to himself not so long ago.

"Buffy, Xander and Cordelia are Twilight vampires and not, not the soulless creatures we know of and encounter here. Given how, how fast they can move, they could have easily killed me – but they didn't. Both of them also confessed to wanting to-to feed on humans after they woke up this morning, but apparently they, they managed to restrain themselves from doing so. So unless they start killing people there will be no slaying, I assure you; besides, I, I could never ask that of you. I'd do it myself if it became necessary. And I promise, I will do everything in my power to help Xander and Cordelia return to normal," Giles said comfortingly.

"W-w-we will...too..." said both Buffy and Willow, through their sobs and hiccups.

Sitting and taking comfort with Buffy and Willow clinging to him tightly, Giles prayed that his children would somehow be able to gain strength from each other. Hoping Buffy and Willow had gotten comfort from the fact Xander and Cordelia were not like regular vampires, he just held the girls for as long as he could, giving them as much comfort as he could.

A.N Cordelia and Xander will love each other like Emmett and Rosalie. This may happened later than it did in Canon as they will have been through so much and they have had to get over their changes but it will happen


	9. Chapter 9: Revelations

A/N: Yes, Cordelia and Xander will EVENTUALLY love each other like Emmett and Rosalie, but not for a while. Canon will go out the window as those two have already been through so much, and they still have to get over everything associated with their…changes, but it will happen. Eventually. Trust me!

Chapter 9 – Revelations

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Giles' Condo – 1:00 pm

Not much had changed for Cordelia Chase and Xander Harris, in the half-hour or so since Giles had left his apartment.

Both teens were still sitting on the couch with their mug in hand. Knowing that Giles wouldn't be home until at least five-thirty, Xander knew that they would need to keep busy - or else face drowning in fear or sorrow of what could be, and what had happened.

So taking the mug from Cordy's hand, who did not move an inch or a single muscle as the young man did that, Xander headed into the kitchen. After washing the mugs, drying and then putting them away he stood at the kitchen counter.

'Oh, this is bad. Cordy's still in shock, like obviously, and I'm Captain Clueless here. Think, damn it - what would Giles do?' Xander asked himself, realizing he needed to snap himself and Cordy out of their funk.

'Research, research, of course! That's what the G-man would do. Maybe that'll help us,' Xander thought to himself, using the only option that experience had taught the Scooby Gang founder in times of uncertainty. But then he recalled the last thing Giles had said before leaving. 'Oh, damn it – none of his books here are in English...'

Walking into the living room Xander knelt down at Cordelia's side, placing a hand on her knee to gain her attention. "Hey, babe…" the youth said without thinking.

'Babe? BABE?! Where the HELL did that come from? Oh God, she's gonna tear my head off for this!' Xander thought to himself, starting to get wigged out at calling Cordelia "babe".

But oddly, Cordelia did nothing but blink and finally abandoned her stone statue routine. "Relax, dweeb boy. I remember Emmett calling me – Rosalie, damn it – 'babe' lots of times. Luckily for you, I know it's just leftovers from the possession," Cordelia said dryly.

Surprised at Cordelia's relaxed attitude and uncertain as to how he would persuade Cordelia to do research, Xander said, "Cordy, I've been thinking…"

"Did it hurt, geek boy?" said Cordelia, laughing hysterically before covering her mouth and looking at him.

Recognizing a coping mechanism when he saw one, Xander just continued on "Not really. Look, Cor, we can't just sit here and just wait around for Giles - we need to see if we can find anything useful ourselves. Maybe Giles has some books in his private stash that we can translate, somehow," Xander said with a small shrug.

Cordelia was silent for a full minute. But then she said bitterly, "You're right. I hate to admit it, dork, but it's pretty obvious you're right. I guess I'm just not coping as well as you are with regards to what's happened."

"It's okay, Cordy, believe me - I understand," replied Xander, hoping to put her at ease. The last thing he needed was a hysterical sparkle-pire on his hands, after all.

The Scooby's resident go-to guy suddenly sensed that Cordy needed to talk to SOMEONE about all this. Her sanity was barely hanging on by a thread. Plus, Harris knew that to gain her trust, he needed to talk to her in return. And not their usual snarky insult contests – they had to TALK about what had happened to them, like grown-ups. 'Hoo boy, me act like a grown-up? Well, if that's not a sure sign of the apocalypse...'

Putting away such thoughts, Xander sat next to Cordelia, placing his hand in hers. Looking at him nervously, Cordelia appeared hesitant for a moment, but then her needs overcame her natural reticence and she made the choice to talk about her issues.

Ms. Chase began by saying, "Xander, I don't…it's just that three days ago I was a normal person, I was the hottest-looking girl in Sunnydale High. I mean, there's a reason why my car has that 'QUEEN C' vanity plate," Cordelia said slowly.

Nodding his head at the girl, Xander motioned for her to continue after recalling from his Emmett memories (as he was calling them in his head) that this was the best way to proceed.

"Well, now I look like an ugly, pasty, sparkly, blonde – thing! Urgh, I don't look like ME anymore, damn it! I feel as if – as if I'm lost myself completely, dorkhead," Cordy said, taking her hand out of Xander's and clasping both together in her lap. Fortunately, Harris did not take offense at the insult.

"I…I…I have to drink blood now! This is just too – damn it, Xander, how can you be so CALM about this?! WHY AREN'T YOU FREAKING OUT LIKE ME?!" Cordelia demanded, yelling out her last sentence.

For his part Xander stayed quiet, sensing she had not yet finished. So he just watched as Cordelia stood up and began pacing. Throwing her hands in the air, she continued, "I was going to be Homecoming Queen next year, I was going to be crowned the junior Prom Queen this year, I was even going to become an international movie star after graduation, God damn it! But now, I – I won't even be able to finish high school," Cordelia said forlornly.

"Well, we don't know that for sure, yet," Xander said encouragingly, even if the cheerleader ignored his interruption completely.

"I-I-I…have no one, Xander, no one who cares about me. Not really, not in any way that matters. Not my friends, not the mansion's staff, not even my own parents!" Cordelia then instantly looked shocked over what she had just revealed.

"What do you mean, Cordy?" Xander asked slowly. "You don't think your mom and dad love you?"

Finally getting everything that had bothered her off her chest, Cordelia stopped and collapsed back onto the couch with her head in her hands. "They…they care. It's just they don't spend any time with me, sometimes I get left alone for weeks on end with just the maid for company. Everyone thinks I'm rich, doofus, but I'm not. At least, not in the way that truly matters," said Cordelia.


	10. Chapter 10: Revelations Continued

Chapter 10 – Revelations Continued

"Speech"

`Thoughts`

"Daddy seems to think a credit card solves any problem, y'know? When I went home that night when the vampires invaded the school and that Hellmouth demon came up out of the floor, I was upset, right? Anyone could see it. But Daddy just told me to go shopping the next day, and my mom just continued drinking her sherry and told me to go to my room. I got no comfort from them, at all. Ever since I was a baby, my parents treated me more like a prized possession than their daughter!"

"Really?" Xander looked shocked; he had never even suspected anything like this.

"Anytime I've been upset over a 'bump in the night' type thing, I have gotten nothing from my parents. Or my friends. Or anyone else. No one sees me for who I am, Harris – they only see the mask I put up for public show," Cordelia confessed, looking at Xander and hoping he wouldn't laugh at her.

Much to her relief, he didn't. "Look, Cordy, I understand how you feel. Believe it or not, I kinda have the same deal going on at my house. And the only reason I can cope is because of Buffy and Willow! And while we're sharing secrets like this, maybe I should mention that a LOT has happened ever since Buffy showed up in Sunnydale that you might not know about."

"Like what?" the blonde girl asked, furrowing her brow.

Xander sagged back into the couch. "Well, let's see. Jesse was turned into a vampire the day after the Buffster showed up, and I…had to…stake him," Xander confessed, trying to ignore if not forget his last memories of his undead best friend. "Do you remember that night in the Bronze? He'd grabbed you and then I showed up – and you somehow managed to get away? I semi-accidentally staked him about ten seconds later. He was my best friend my whole life apart from Willow, and I..."

"Oh my God, Xander, I'm so sorry," Cordelia said, looking completely freaked. She remembered that night; and now, with the benefit of hindsight, she understood what Jesse had been when he'd cornered her that evening. She thought to herself, 'Dear God, I owe the dweeb here my life?' So Cordy did something she thought she would never do, and took both his hands in hers.

Finding like Cordelia that he could not stop once he had begun, Xander continued on, giving the young woman's hands a squeeze as he did so. "And that's not all, Cordy; do you remember Miss French? The substitute Biology teacher we had for a few days, last year?"

Looking at Xander, Cordelia nodded. "Yeah, how could I not? All the guys were totally drooling over her! Didn't she just disappear, though?" asked Cordelia.

"Yeah, but what you don't know is why. I mean, she was actually a giant preying-mantis lady in disguise – and she locked me up in a cage, tried to have sex with me, and then bite my head off. Buffy killed her before that could happen, though," replied Xander.

"Ewww! GROSS, and can I mention totally SKANKY?!" Cordelia replied, looking disgusted.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Then a few months later, I got possessed by a Hyena," Xander said, inwardly amused at Cordelia's predictable response and taking some cold comfort in it.

"Wait, what? You were POSSESSED? Hey, was that when you went all bitchy with Willow and all macho around Buffy? I just thought you were finally attempting to break out of Geekdom, before failing miserably and going back to your old loser self," Cordelia said with a frown.

"Yeah, 'fraid not…" Xander replied, pausing and wondering whether to tell Cordy everything he had done while under the Primal spirit's influence.

"Xander, what is it?" Cordy asked, she could tell he was holding something back. She was built to notice these things, after all.

"Erm, I...I kinda tried to rape Buffy back then. Afterwards she forgave me, but-but she doesn't know that I remember what happened that night, so please - you can't tell her!" Xander pleaded desperately.

"Okay, I won't. But you said you were possessed, right? So it wasn't really you, was it?" Cordy asked.

Sighing with relief that Cordy didn't run screaming from the room, Harris continued, "No. And thank you for that, Cor, I think that Halloween possession caused the hyena to be swallowed up an it isn't there anymore. Still, getting back on topic, remember when everyone's nightmares became real? Um, well, mine was being attacked by a clown and showing up at school in nothing but my underwear. I had nightmares about all that for weeks afterwards."

Wide-eyed, Cordelia nodded as she recalled her own nightmare coming to life back then. Hers was, or had been, losing everything that made her special – and losing her surrogate mother, Rosa.

"You remember how I didn't go to Prom? Well, I asked Buffy but she rejected me, so then I asked Willow - who told me no, as she knew Buffy was the one I actually wanted to be with. So I just stayed home," Xander said, before grimacing slightly.

"Well, colour me surprised! And no, I don't remember Prom Night too well. Oh, sure, I remember finding Kevin in the audio room with Willow," Cordelia replied honestly, shuddering at that memory of discovering her murdered boyfriend. "But nothing about you not going to the Bronze, or whatever."

"It's okay; I wouldn't have expected you to. Well, anyway, I found out Buffy was going to fight the Master - and she was, like, predestined to lose. So I went to Angel's apartment, so that he could tell me where she'd gone. I had to force him to lead me to his lair at cross point," Harris said with a grimace.

"What? Why?" Cordelia didn't get it.

"Huh? You don't know that Angel's a good guy vampire?" Xander looked astonished.

"What? NO! He can't be a vampire! That's so totally unfair! No one that handsome is allowed to be a monster!" Cordelia whined, drawing an annoyed look from Xander. "And wait up, how can a vampire – well, a Hellmouth vampire – be a good guy?"

"Gypsy curse that gave him his soul back, but that's not important. The important thing is, after Dead Boy took me down there I brought Buffy back to life with CPR – and I never even got a thank-you for it," Xander said bitingly. "Closest thing Buffy gave me to show her appreciation was that lap-dance in the Bronze last month, in order to make her boyfriend jealous!"

Shocked at what Xander had just said, Cordelia realized that - for better or worse - they were a lot more similar than she'd realized. Even putting aside the sparkle-pire thing, she had far more in common with Xander freaking Harris than she'd known.

Also realizing that Xander had not finished, Cordelia told herself not to speak of this to anyone as Harris got ready to continue with his tale.


	11. Chapter 11: Unexpected Discoveries

Chapter 11 – Unexpected Discoveries

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, and I hope this makes sense.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Giles' Condo – 2:00pm

Xander Harris stared at the young woman sitting next to him on Giles' couch, and suddenly asked himself, 'Why am I doing this?'

It was a fairly valid question, actually; why WAS he telling this girl all of his secrets? Oh, sure, they were both Twilight vampires, sparkle-pires as he privately called them, now. But that didn't change the fact that he and Cordelia Chase had been enemies since kindergarten; ever since that day the brunette had made Willow cry with the infamous 'yellow crayon' incident. Xander knew that under normal circumstances, he would never even consider doing the whole 'baring your soul' thing with the daughter of the richest family in Sunnydale...

But then, these weren't normal circumstances, were they? He now looked like Emmett Cullen, and Cordelia now looked like Rosalie Hale Cullen. Plus, they weren't human anymore; as both their upper body strength and sense of smell could testify. As a matter of fact, Cordelia smelled DAMNED good to Xander right now. So good, in fact, that he had to fight back the sudden urge to pin her down on the couch, and ravish her mouth with his own...

Climb on top of her, rip off Cordelia's clothes and then plunge his...

'Whoa! STOP! Down, boy, there will be NOTHING like that happening,' Xander told himself firmly. 'Besides, you're in love with Buffy, remember? Granted, she doesn't see you as anything other than a friend, but now that the playing field is on a more even level where Dead Boy's concerned...'

"Xander, you okay?" Cordelia asked, looking slightly worried. He had been silent for quite a while now, after all.

"Yeah, Cor, I'm fine." Feeling bolstered by her concern, Xander continued on, "Okay, let me continue with the Scooby secrets. Start of junior year, Willow got kidnapped by those vamps – you remember which ones, I'm sure, as they kidnapped you too – and I actually threatened to kill Buffy, even though I was still completely crazy about her."

"Oh, yeah, you mean that time when Buffy had a REALLY b itchy attitude going," Cordelia replied, not understanding why hearing Xander say that he was crazy in lust for Buffy bothered her. It wasn't like she didn't already know that.

"You remember?" asked Xander, amazed that Cordelia would have noticed anything that was not directly related to her.

Noticing Xander's shocked look, Cordelia replied, "Oh please, geek boy, you're looking at the über-b itch of Sunnydale! Hell yeah I noticed, and I told her so too. I actually said to her, 'Buffy, you're really campaigning for b itch-of-the-year, aren't you?'''

Some of the tension in the air was broken when both of them broke into laughter over that. "You did? Gotta admit, Cordy, that is classic 'you'," Xander said, shaking his head.

"Well, naturally. So, anything else happen to you that I don't know about?" Cordelia asked.

"Well, ermm, oh! Hey, do you remember Ampata, the foreign exchange student?" Xander asked in response to Cordelia's question.

"Yeah," Cordelia nodded briefly. "Decent skin tone, knew how to moisturize, and at the Bronze, she certainly had you chasing after her like an overeager puppy." Again, Ms. Chase had no idea why she found the thought of Xander lusting after another girl annoying.

"Yeah, not my finest hour, I gotta admit. On account of she was an Incan Mummy Girl who killed people! She even tried to suck the life out of Willow so that her and I could be together, but I refused to let her," Xander said, shocking the undead socialite.

"So what happened?" Cordelia asked, not sure if she actually wanted to know.

"Ampata died, Cordy. Turned into dust and ashes, just as she tried to suck the life out of ME," Xander replied, a stony look upon his – Emmett's – features.

"Xander, I'm sorry, but – that wasn't your fault," Cordy said slowly. "I mean it wasn't, right?"

"No, Cordy, it wasn't," Xander replied with a look of pain. 'Well, if I've come this far, I wonder…can I tell her what my home life is like? Will she understand? CAN she?' Again Xander didn't speak for a few minutes, which made Cordelia unsure of how to proceed; which was a very rare thing indeed.

"Xander, whatever it is – you can tell me. I won't tell anyone, I promise," Cordelia said sincerely. "I mean, right now – who the hell do I have to talk to, except you?"

"Do you ever wonder why I wear the clothes I do, Cordy?" Xander asked abruptly, after taking a deep breath.

"Well, originally I thought it was just so you could get some attention – ANY attention, even the wrong kind – but now that I come to think of it..." Thinking back and realizing that Xander had always worn long sleeves, eye-bleeding Hawaiian shirts and that he sat at the back of any class he could, Cordelia asked, "You wanna tell me why, Xander?"

"It's personal. I mean, not even Willow knows about this," Xander said slowly, staring at his female companion – as if wondering whether he could truly trust her with his most secret secret.

"And again I say, who am I gonna tell right now?" Cordelia demanded, with a hint of her normal imperious attitude.

"If I tell you, you can't say anything. Not to your parents, not to your Cordettes, not even to Giles," Xander said firmly. And after seeing Cordelia nod earnestly, he went out on a limb and said, "My parents, they have a drinking problem. That's why my house looks like it does, and why nearly all my clothes are from Goodwill."

Sensing Xander was still hiding something, the blonde girl cautiously asked, "Xander, do they - hit you?"

Ducking his head Xander whispered, which Cordelia's new vamp hearing picked up, "Yeah, and my dad would have tried to beat me this morning – if I hadn't scared the ** out of him."

Looking up at Cordelia, and seeing no pity only comfort in her eyes, he continued, "Hey, it doesn't happen that often – at least, not anymore. My mom is too drunk to stand up for me or he beats her too. When I was younger, it was different; I used to end up in the hospital's emergency room way too regularly. But like I said, that was then and this is now." Looking Cordelia right in the eye, Xander said, "Willow doesn't know and she's not going to, either. Understood?"

"Yeah, but Xander, did your dad ever hurt you in any other way? You know, like you hear about it on TV and read about it in the newspapers all the time..." Cordelia asked nervously, hoping he would understand what she meant as she lowered her gaze down towards Xander's crotch.

Unbidden, the thought then ran through Cordelia's mind as she stared at the bulge in Xander's pants: 'Oh my, hello, salty goodness...'

"What are you -? OH! No, Cordy, no way! There was never anything like THAT!" Xander replied emphatically, as he finally managed to get what this girl was trying not to say out loud.

"Oh, good. And ya know, given everything else you just said – well, I had to ask," a relieved Cordelia replied, thankful that Xander had not been hurt in that way.

Surrendering to an instinct she did not understand, Cordelia put her arms around Xander and hugged him for all she was worth. She pretended not to notice just how familiar his new body was, how naturally it fit into her arms, how in her memories she – Rosalie – whoever, had often made mad, passionate love to it.

'Don't GO there! And if I ever meet Xander's dad, I might just kill him and give Mrs Harris a few choice words,' Cordelia thought to herself nastily, after the hug ended and she let Harris go. 'I mean, how DARE he do something like that and her just stand by and let it happen? And where the hell were Social Services, when we were little kids?'

"So, I take it Buffy never noticed?" Cordelia asked, knowing from Xander's previous statement that she most likely didn't.

"No, Cordy. She only has eyes for Angel, and I'm just one of the girls to her," Xander replied, looking at the blonde girl. "Well, anyway, I USED to be. Guess there's no telling what I am to her now. It all depends if we can – fix what's happened."

Both boy and girl lapsed into silence again for a while, and for the first time, both truly understood each other. Cordy was the first to break the silence, "Listen, Xander, for the record – I'm sorry I never noticed the truth about you..."

"Cordy, why would you have noticed? I mean, we weren't exactly friends, and we never hung out together..." Harris started to say.

"Yeah, true. But you still saved my life when Daryl the Zombie Boy tried to make me into the Bride of Frankenstein a few weeks back, remember?" Cordelia asked pointedly. "Afterwards, I SHOULD have noticed something was hinky about you! And God knows how if it had been someone else, anyone else, I WOULD have!"

Xander honestly wasn't sure what to say to that, as he saw Rosalie – no, Cordelia, damn it! – look very annoyed with herself. But as he stared at her, one thing became clear. And that was that they were not alone in their lives now, human or sparkle-pire. Both privately made the decision that if either of them were to go home – which was out of the question right now, of course – then the other would go along to make sure she or he was okay, no matter what.

Abruptly recalling what had started their little share-time, Xander once again asked, "Cordy, would you mind if we started on the researching thing now?"

Looking at Xander, Cordelia replied, "Well why not? Even though we aren't exactly 'us' anymore, at least we know that one thing is still the same in our lives. Those musty old books!"

Chuckling at her comment, Xander helped Cordelia up off the couch and both went upstairs to where Xander knew Giles kept his private collection of books.

Their first task, they decided, was to find anything that mentioned blood drinkers. Then narrow it down to vampires, or anything remotely vampiric. Then start looking for reversal spells, or some such thing. So after each getting a pile of books, they both sat on the floor and began researching.

It was slow-going, especially with the need to consult the various esoteric dictionaries Giles had on hand; but then neither sparkle-pire got tired, or even hungry or thirsty. Well, except for blood of course. Something which still made Cordelia grimace every time she drank the blood of swine, but at least now Xander didn't have to walk her through it any longer.

From time to time the two transformed teens would compare items or descriptions mentioned, and they finally relaxed now that they had a starting point in seeking a cure for their 'condition'. Cordelia and Xander both saw a light at the end of the tunnel, with more hope in each other and that the books they had chosen would reveal something.

In any case, Giles came home around six and found the pair up in his library. After reassuring Xander and Cordy that it was alright how they were there without his permission, and telling them he wasn't mad for the violation of his private sanctum, Giles had to admit to himself that he was secretly pleased how these two had appeared to slowly recover from their Halloween experience.

And what was more, Rupert could also sense that something had changed between them. What with the way these two were now acting around each other, it seemed that all the previous juvenile hostility and bitterness had been bled out of them. Which was all for the best, in the Watcher's opinion.

"How'd Willow and Buffy take the big news, Giles?" Xander asked, getting up off the floor from where he'd been sitting side with side with Cordelia. She was quick to follow him, as they both looked at the British man.

"Ermm...well..." Giles began, honestly not sure what to say. Especially after hearing that the Sunnydale police were now openly looking for Cordelia, who was officially missing presumed kidnapped...

A/N: DUN DUN DUN, cliffhanger! I know I'm horrible, but I hope you like. It took a while for me to get these ideas down on paper, but thank you to Chi Vayne for all the excellent suggestions. Thank you to my wonderful beta Theo, too, once again.

Slight omake:

Cordelia: What the hell?

Xander: Yeah, what gives?

Author: Whoops, oh hey, guys, ermm, you like?

Cordelia and Xander: NO!

Author: Well, crap.

Xander: You turned me into a vampire! I HATE VAMPIRES!

Cordelia: And hey, not complaining about the staying young and beautiful forever part – but what's the what about me not having my own face? And just so you know, lady, I LIVE to shop during daylight hours!

Author: See you later, folks!

Cordelia and Xander chase the author out of the room with burning torches. The author runs for her life, with the dynamic duo closing the gap with every passing second.


	12. Chapter 12: Raw Wounds

A/N: I'm currently writing a Terminator SCC fanfic, is anyone interested in being a beta reader for that story? Anyway, here is the latest chapter of A Sparkle On The Hellmouth. Enjoy!

A/N 2: Just read the guidelines and I apologize as Chapter 6 should not have been labelled as such: according to the site rules, what I did was a big no-no given that was purely an Author Notes. Sorry!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 12 – Raw Wounds

Buffy Summers sat on her bed, cuddling Mr. Gordo. And despite the proclivities of female teenagers in southern California, Mr. Gordo was not a cradle-robbing human pervert but actually Buffy's stuffed pig. Yes, even the Chosen One had a favorite stuffed animal.

'Poor Xander. Oh, hell, even Cordelia doesn't deserve this,' Buffy thought to herself, staring dolefully at the picture of the Three Musketeers on her nightstand; which had been taken last year. 'Damn that Ethan Rayne guy...'

But then her thoughts were distracted by a knocking on her bedroom door. Buffy sat up and looked towards the door before saying, "Who is it?"

"Buffy, can I come in?" asked a familiar female voice.

Sighing softly, Buffy replied, "Yeah, sure, Mom. Come on in."

Entering the room, Joyce Summers wondered yet again why her daughter had come home so sad today. "Buffy, I know you're sixteen and that you don't want me prying into every single aspect of your life. I, I want you to know that I respect your boundaries. But I can also tell that something's wrong! And honey, whatever it is, you can talk to me about it," Joyce said, concerned.

Sighing inwardly Buffy thought, 'I wish I could tell you, Mom, but I can't. I mean, you don't know I'm the Slayer, you don't know the real truth of this world; you couldn't understand...'

Looking at her mother, Buffy decided to cook up a story but stay as close to truth as she could. "Xander's in trouble, Mom. He, ermm, he has a medical condition that's really rare, and the doctors don't know if it can be fixed," the Chosen One said, hoping her mom wouldn't ask too many questions.

"I see. Oh dear. Well, do you know what this condition is called?" asked Joyce with a frown.

"I dunno, it was some really long wordy thing that I asked Giles about; but I, I don't remember what exactly it was he called it," Buffy replied, scrambling for a feasible explanation, and hoping she hadn't just put her Watcher in it eight foot deep.

"Giles?" Joyce asked, looking confused; but then she remembered the high school librarian she had met last year. "Oh yes, that man who works at your school, I remember him now. Well, maybe Mr. Giles knows someone or something that can help Xander," Joyce said encouragingly, sitting on the bed next to her daughter.

"I dunno. Maybe," Buffy said forlornly, resting her head on the top of Mr. Gordo's head and looking worried.

Putting her arms round her daughter, Joyce hoped for Buffy's sake that that Xander boy would get better soon, whatever the heck was wrong with him. Oddly enough, the woman knew about Xander's feelings and had seen the way he looked at her daughter. 'It's just too bad Buffy sees him only as a friend, I suppose. Then again, maybe it's all for the best – if the boy IS seriously ill, it probably wouldn't do for Buffy to feel that way if his disease really is life-threatening, would it?' the mom thought to herself.

The two Summers women were interrupted from their respective thoughts, though, by another knock on the bedroom door. "Mom, Buffy, you guys in there?" asked the voice of the youngest Summers female in the house.

Getting up, Joyce went to the door; and sighing loudly, Buffy unfurled herself and placed Mr. Gordo back in his rightful place. "Yeah, Dawn, we're both in here."

Opening the door and giving Joyce a questioning look, Dawn motioned with her head towards Buffy. For her part, Joyce steeled herself for what she now had to do; she had long known about her youngest daughter's crush on Xander since they had moved to Sunnydale the previous year, after all.

"Honey, let's go downstairs – we need to talk ab-" Joyce began to say.

"Mom," Buffy interrupted from behind her.

Turning around to face Buffy, Joyce noticed a determined look on her daughter's face. Realizing her eldest wanted to be the one to tell Dawn the bad news, Joyce nodded at Buffy to let her know it was okay before she turned and faced her younger daughter. "I, uh, I believe Buffy has something to tell you, dear."

"Yeah. Come on, Dawnie, let's go downstairs," Buffy said, walking past Joyce and putting an arm around her sister.

"Okay, what's going on? You guys are kinda wigging me out here," Dawn said, looking back and forth between the two most important people in her life.

"Downstairs now, Dawn, questions later," Buffy replied firmly, steering her sister towards the stairs as their mother brought up the rear.

After the three Summers women were seated on the couch in the living room, Buffy - after looking at her mother - took a deep breath and began her speech. Knowing about her sibling's crush on Xander, she took a moment to think about how to begin without hurting her soon-to-be twelve-year-old little sister.

"Do you remember trick-or-treating last Friday, Dawnie?" Buffy asked, looking at her sister.

"Yeah, I remember how I fell asleep roughly around six o'clock; and I musta had some really weird dream or something, 'cause afterwards when I woke up, I thought I could remember what it was like being a real-live princess," Dawn replied, given that she had chosen to dress up as Snow White the other night.

"Oh, sweetie," Joyce smiled indulgently. "So, tell me, did you dream that Xander was your Prince Charming?"

"Um, can I sorta plead the Fifth on that one?" the pre-teen brunette blushed deeply. 'Stupid dream, telling me he's too old for me; 'cause he so is not,' Dawn thought, before returning her attention back to her sister. Getting a bad feeling Dawn then asked, "What does Halloween have to do with anything, Buffy?"

"Well, you remember how Willow and I - we made Xander read those books?" Buffy asked in response.

"Yeah, 'course I do. I was the one who originally suggested it, remember?" Dawn said, concerned since they were talking about her favorite person in the WHOLE world.

Buffy's insides dropped at the look on Dawn's face, knowing that she was going to destroy the little girl's entire world with her next sentence. Able to sense her consternation, Joyce took her eldest's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Do you want me to say it, dear?"

"What? Say what? What's going on?" Dawn demanded, starting to look freaked.

'OH boy, I need to say it - but how?' Buffy thought, swallowing the lump in her throat. She said, "No, Mom, I'll do it. Dawnie, Xander dressed up as Emmett Cullen, like Willow suggested..." Buffy trailed off hesitantly.

"Cool, he's the best one!" Dawn replied, bouncing a little.

"But something happened during Halloween while everyone was trick-or-treating, Xander..." Buffy said, taking a deep breath. "Xander got sick because of what happened at Halloween, y'know – the gas leak, or whatever the heck it was that made people go nuts for a while. And, and whatever's wrong with him, I heard that i-i-it might not be curable," Buffy said, grateful that the excuse had been cooked up by City Hall during the weekend - and that she could use it to spin a plausible-sounding yarn now.

"What?" Dawn said in a tiny voice. "But, but...how? I mean, why-?"

"I don't know," Buffy lied, hating herself for doing this; but unable to think of any way around it. "I mean, all I know is what Giles told me today in between classes, a-and all he knows is what the hospital staff told him – which was pretty much squat, since he wasn't family..."

Dawn's face dropped, and she began to cry into her mother's chest. Rocking her youngest daughter, Joyce almost couldn't believe what she'd just heard – that the nice boy she knew was now seriously sick because of what those people at the nearby army base had been messing with last Friday. 'His parents ought to sue the Army, or something...'

Feeling extremely guilty that she could not tell her family the truth, Buffy placed her arms her mother and sister and mourned the loss of her Xander-shaped friend. Whether that loss was temporary or permanent she did not know, but the Slayer was willing to bet that even if her best male friend WAS returned to normal – he would no longer be the same person he'd been.

Becoming a vampire even briefly changes you, as she vaguely recalled from her sophomore year nightmares.

Joyce blinked back tears and comforted her children, thinking of how she could possibly help the poor boy. Unfortunately, there was nothing the middle-aged woman could immediately think of; after all, she didn't know what exactly was wrong with Xander, or which hospital he was located in. She didn't even know the phone number for the Harris residence – which was actually all for the best...

As both Tony and Jessica Harris had no idea where their son was right now, and Joyce ringing them up and saying she was so sorry to hear about what had happened – well, it would have landed Buffy in some VERY hot water. Oh what a tangled web we weave, and all that.

After Dawn had cried herself to sleep on the sofa, Buffy and Joyce went into the kitchen and the mother made them both a cup of coffee. Sitting at the breakfast table in silence for a few moments, both Summers women contemplated only one subject – Xander Harris.

"Buffy, level with me. Just how badly is Xander doing at the moment?" Joyce asked abruptly.

"I don't know, Mom," Buffy replied, trying not to panic. "Like I said, all I know is he's sick – oh, and that they're not letting anyone in to see him, apart from his parents," Buffy hurriedly expanded upon her previous lies thus far, as she FINALLY figured out that her story might not hold up if her mom decided to take Dawn and go visit Xander at Sunnydale General.

"Oh, dear, that doesn't sound good. And by the way, I didn't want to bring it up in the living room in front of Dawn – but you know that classmate of yours, that girl named Cordelia Chase?" Joyce asked, having heard her daughter talk about the female teen. Even if from the way Buffy had spoken about her, the socialite wasn't exactly...her favorite person.

"Yeah, Mom?" Buffy replied warily, hoping that Cordy wouldn't have to be described as sick as Xander was. 'She'll go ballistic if I give her a disease; even a fictional one,' the Slayer thought ruefully.

"Well, her mother is a member of the Board of Directors at the museum next door to my art gallery, and so I heard that her daughter is missing," Joyce said hesitantly.

'MISSING? OH CRAP, Giles needs to know about this – and, like, right now!' Buffy thought, inwardly panicking.

"Missing, when did this happen? I mean yeah, she wasn't at school today, but then a-a lot of kids didn't show after what happened last Friday," Buffy said, all the while hoping that Giles had heard that Cordelia had been listed as missing.

"Apparently her parents thought she was hiding in her bedroom, but when one of the maids went to check on her she found the balcony doors open. Plus when I turned on the radio half an hour ago, they were calling it a possible kidnapping," Joyce confessed.

"Kidnapping? Is, is there a ransom note?" Buffy asked in wide-eyed surprise. She was trying hard not to show what she was feeling deep down inside, having had lots of practice at hiding secrets. 'At least this secret is less important than what I do slaying at night,' Buffy thought privately.

"No, or at least not yet. Apparently the Sunnydale police are dealing with this, as Mr. and Mrs. Chase don't want to call in the FBI yet. Which is pretty silly, if you ask me," Joyce replied. "I mean, one should hope for the best - but prepare for the worst."

Nodding her head solemnly, Buffy said, "Mom, I think you know how Cordy and I don't exactly see eye to eye on much - but I do hope she turns up safe and sound soon. Still – our priority should be on how to deal with Dawn's crush on Xander, right?"

Surprised that Buffy had actually noticed that, Joyce replied, "Yes honey, I think so too. And to be honest, dear, I didn't think you'd noticed." 'Hmmm, maybe she's also noticed that Xander has a huge crush on her?'

"Oh please, Mom; I spent half my time when I was that age, crushing on older guys," Buffy replied with a small snort. "I mean, remember that phase I went through idolising the members of Pearl Jam?"

'Nope, she obviously just thinks him as a friend,' Joyce thought in minor disappointment. 'Honestly, Buffy, you need to start taking notice of these things!' Then looking at her daughter firmly, Joyce said, "Well, don't you say anything; let me do the talking to Dawn about that in a few days."

"Okay, Mom. Whatever you say," Buffy nodded. 'Hopefully, Xander will be all fixed up good as new by then. And if not...well, I'll just have to think of something else to keep covering my hienie. God, WHY didn't I just go with the missing presumed kidnapped story for Xander as well?"

Sitting in quiet, the two Summers women drank their coffee before they began making dinner. When the meal was nearly cooked, Dawn walked into the kitchen, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "Mom?"

"Hi, sweetheart, would you like something to eat?" Joyce asked, giving her younger daughter a hug.

"I, y-yeah, p-please, M-mom," Dawn sniffled, sitting at the table.

Dishing up, Joyce gave Dawn her plate and placed hers on the table as well. Buffy placed the pans into the sink and took her plate to the table. Eating the meal in complete silence, all three women jumped in startled shock when the phone rang. Leaving her girls at the table, Joyce answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello, Mrs. Summers. It's, err, Rupert Giles here," the Watcher said hesitantly.

"Oh, yes, Mr Giles! Look, before you say anything, you should know that Buffy's told me everything," Joyce said.

"What?!" Giles demanded, jumping to conclusions about the whole Slayer thing.

"Yes, and I must say; it was very good of you to be so concerned about Xander that way. Going to visit that poor boy at the hospital was, well – above and beyond the call of duty! You see, Buffy confessed how sick he was after I pressed her on why she was looking so sad after coming home from school today," Joyce said candidly.

"Oh, yes, I-I understand," Giles said, an odd note of relief in his voice as he realized the big secret was still intact. "Well, uh, thank you. And may I speak to Buffy, please? It, um, concerns something else. Nothing too serious, ermm, it's just about a book she borrowed and never gave back, I'm afraid."

"Couldn't this have waited until tomorrow?" Joyce demanded suspiciously.

"Well, ah, it was a gift from my father, and not school property. I found myself in need of it this evening, and, ah..."

"Say no more, Mr. Giles. And hang on a moment..." After removing the phone from her ear, Joyce called for her daughter. "BUFFY!"

"Coming, Mom!" When she got there, Buffy asked, "What's the what?"

"Mr. Giles wants to talk to you," Joyce said sternly.

Taking the phone from her mother, the worried Slayer attempted to avoid thinking about the disappointed look that was on Joyce's face. "Giles? Is Xander okay? Have you learned anything new?" Buffy asked carefully, aware that her mother and sister were now listening intently.

"He's fine, Buffy. I just wanted to let you know Cordelia has been reported missing to the police, and that Xander wants to see you. Can you come over to my place? I've, um, already called Willow to come here," Giles said in a big rush.

"Be right there, Giles!" the Slayer replied, before hanging up. And so, after telling Joyce yet another lie, Buffy grabbed a random book from her room, waved goodbye to Dawn and her mother, and left the house. Slaying a few vamps who tried their luck against her on the way, she soon arrived at Giles' condo. And as she rang the bell, Buffy could not help wondering what the upcoming meeting would be like.

Not all that far away, Spike had his hands full trying to keep Drusilla from going completely berserk as the mad seer kept screaming her lungs out about the 'sparkling ones', and her 'kitten', and the 'naughty strumpet'...

Omake:

The Author runs in whilst looking behind her, panting: "OK, I think I lost 'em."

"You really think so?"

"Hey, you. You made us NOT us!"

Turning, the Author sees Cordelia standing next to Xander. "Well, yeah."

Dawn appears out of nowhere. "You're soooo dead USDA meat."

"OH, CRAP!" screams the Author, legging it out the room and to outdoors.


	13. Chapter 13: Reunited

A/N: Sorry for the wait, I have a chest infection and I spent the last few days either at the doctor's office or in bed.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 13 – Reunited

Rosenberg Residence – 8:30 pm

Willow Rosenberg was doing what she usually did, when her parents were out of town. Research.

She did research for a lot of reasons; school and homework and how to stay out of the way of the popular girls who used to make her life a living hell, to name but a few. But this, this was very, very important research. This research was needed for her first ever best friend and long-time crush, Xander Harris.

Because earlier that day, Willow had found out some terrible news about Xander along with her other best friend, Buffy Summers. Namely that he had been turned into a vampire last Friday night, and thanks to sheer chaos in all its glory, he was now STUCK as a member of the Bela Lugosi club. Or a sparkling variant of it, anyway.

Brushing away tears that threatened to fall for the umpteenth time that night, Willow typed a new set of keywords into yet another search engine. 'I have to find something to help Xander, there has to be something!' she thought desperately. 'Oh, and Cordelia too I suppose...'

Finding nothing yet again, Willow unleashed an unladylike curse and continued to search, getting more and more frustrated with not finding what she was looking for. Her failure was unsurprising, though; after all, it wasn't like anyone had a recipe for curing vampirism on the Net. Or, if they did, it was more material for the National Inquirer than anything else.

Placing her head on her computer desk, Willow began to cry again. But then the phone rang, so wiping her tears away Willow answered it. "H-h-hello?"

"Hello, Willow, it's me. Giles," the Watcher replied.

"Hi," replied Willow softly.

"Are you alright, Willow?" Giles asked concernedly.

Sniffling, Willow answered, "Yeah Giles, I'm okay. Sorta. What's up?"

"Well, um, can you come over to my house?" he asked diffidently.

"Sure, I guess. You mean now, right?" Willow asked, wanting clarification.

"Yes, Willow. Uh, I-I'll see you in a little while, then, and - be careful," Giles said, before hanging up.

Willow quickly shut down her computer after printing out what she had found so far. And grabbing what little research she had managed to gather, she quickly exited the house. It was rather risky, but Willow decided to grab the last evening bus towards Giles's condo as she saw it coming down the street.

'Lucky the bus stop is right outside my house,' Willow thought, as she scrambled aboard and then the bus drove away.

Passing Xander's house a few minutes later, Willow wondered whether his parents had noticed Xander was missing. Last week she was sure they would have – but after today, when Cordelia had been declared missing presumed kidnapped but there hadn't been one peep about Xander anywhere, she had begun thinking of how he never talked about his home life...

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Giles's Condo – 9pm

"Buffy's coming down the street, Giles," Xander said, abruptly breaking the quiet within the apartment.

"Hey, Geekboy, stop showing off!" Cordelia replied, looking at Xander; half amused and half grossed out.

'Guess I need to remember not to go all vampy around Cordy, at least until she gets used to this. Maybe I should put her in her comfort zone,' Xander thought, flashing Cordelia a quick goofy grin.

Rolling her eyes, Cordelia went to back to reading her book when she heard the Thump, Thump she was learning to associate with a human heartbeat. She looked at Xander, who was now smiling smugly at her.

"Hearing something, Cordy?" Xander asked sarcastically.

Huffing Cordelia slammed the book down, before wincing at just how loud the noise was to her enhanced hearing. "Sorry, Giles."

"That's alright, Cordelia; do try to take your anger out on something that can take it," Giles replied, putting the girl at ease; even though he truly hoped that such a rare book was not damaged.

'Yeah, like Geekboy over there,' Cordelia thought wryly. 'DAMN but he still smells so good to me! There has to be a way to fix that, right?' she then asked herself.

As if able to hear her thoughts and knowing what she was thinking, Xander waved at her cockily. Rolling her eyes again and going downstairs to sit on the couch, Cordy thought to herself, 'Maybe this is Xander's way of comforting me? Nah, no way! This is just the dweeb being himself, despite the studly new makeover. And what good-looking eye candy it is!'

Giles and Xander followed her downstairs, as Cordelia listened to Buffy coming up the path to the front door of Apartment B. "She's here," the blonde girl said, and Cordy was proved correct when the doorbell rang.

Opening to the door to see his Slayer with a book in hand, Giles stepped aside to let her in and closed the door behind her. 'Good Lord, I certainly hope Buffy, err, restrains herself...'

Her Slayer-sense tingling weirdly, Buffy walked through the door to see someone who looked like Rosalie Cullen from the Twilight movies. Hearing footsteps and her Slayer-sense pinging even louder, the Chosen One turned to face the stairwell – only to see Emmett Cullen at the bottom of the stairs.

The person who Buffy saw as Emmett Cullen grinned and said: "Hiya, Buff."

Unfortunately, hearing her name from the Emmett lookalike in Xander's voice was enough for Buffy to faint dead away.

"Good job there, Geekboy," Cordelia said, looking at the unconscious Slayer and then at an open-mouthed Xander.

"Still, this may just be the funniest thing that I've ever witnessed! I'm gonna have to milk it for all it's worth in the weeks to come," Cordelia said, with a huge megawatt smile suddenly appearing on her face.

"Well, I'm glad we could entertain you, Cordy," Xander replied, rolling his eyes. Even though, privately, he had to admit it WAS rather funny seeing his Slayer hero act like a girly-girl for once.

Giles meanwhile had grabbed some smelling salts from his first aid cabinet in the kitchen and was placing them under Buffy's nose. Still shocked that his Slayer had fainted, Giles was relieved when she quickly came around.

"G-Giles? Wha' happened?" Buffy asked groggily, wondering why she was laying on the floor.

"You fainted, Buffy," Giles replied, helping his charge onto to her feet.

Placing Buffy on the couch, which Cordelia had vacated, Giles sat next to her. Looking at Xander and Cordelia, who both nodded, he asked, "You do remember our talk in the library earlier today, I take it?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Ya know, it was just kind of a shock for me seeing them like – this," Buffy replied, looking at the pale duo in the corner of the room. Her Slayer-sense was still bugging the crap out of her, but she resolved to ignore it.

"A shock for YOU? Well, how do you..." Cordelia began to rant, an angry look on her face.

Placing a hand on Cordelia's arm Xander spoke gently, "Cordy, please? That isn't gonna help, even if it might make you feel better lashing out at someone who doesn't deserve it."

Looking at Xander, then Buffy, Cordelia huffed and then nodded reluctantly, an aggrieved look on her face.

"Giles, Willow's outside," Xander then said, looking at the British man.

'How did Xand know Will was here? Vamp hearing? Yeah, probably,' Buffy thought, feeling slightly sick at the thought. 'Well, either that or that gross smelling thing which the undead do. Which I REALLY hope it's not!'

Giles nodded and got up, when the doorbell rang a few seconds later. Willow entered the residence with Giles closing the door behind her, and she was instantly shocked at seeing two people who looked like Emmett and Rosalie Cullen – just like Buffy before her.

"X-X-Xander?" Willow said shakily, wanting to believe but afraid to do so.

Omake

Author runs in looking behind her, stopping to catch her breath. "Hope that was okay, people, and damn this chest infection..." Hearing something and looking quickly behind her, she runs out of the room.

Three people come running in. "Where the hell did she go?" an older male teen dressed in black says.

"Yeah, that's what I wanna know!" the older female teen says, looking at the guy.

"Hey, what gives and where's Buffy?" the dark haired pre-teen says.

"Right here, Dawnie," a bottle-blonde female teen says, appearing out of nowhere. Looking around her she growls, "Now, where is that bitch? I'll get her for making me faint! I NEVER faint!"


	14. Chapter 14: Old Friends

A.N

To all my audience. I sincerely apologies for the last of Chapters recently as I have begun an Access To Higher Education and it's really intense. I'm hoping to post once a week but here is a new chapter. Hope you like but if you want me to move the story on I will do my best if it's too slow.

A/N: To all my readers and reviewers, I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates recently. But I've begun my foray into university life, and it's really intense. I'm hoping to post a new chapter once a week, but what with exams, we'll see how optimistic that hope is. Anyway, here is a new chapter for this fic! Hope you like, but if you want me to move the story forward faster, say so in your review! I will do my best if it's too slow for your tastes.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

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Chapter 14 – Old Friends

Xander looked at Willow, his first ever and bestest friend, looking for any sign of rejection; but there was none. Willow could only stand and stare in a state of shock mixed with joy that Xander was still 'Xander', even though he looked like a complete stranger. A studly, _handsome _stranger at that. But he was still here, so that was all which was important in Willow's world-view.

Buffy got up and walked over to Xander. "Xander, Cordelia, can you come over here for a sec?" the Slayer asked very carefully.

Looking at Cordelia, who shrugged as if to say 'it's gotta happen sometime, so may as well get it over with' Xander walked carefully over to Buffy; who was still trying to ignore the pinging of her Slayer radar.

"Sure, Buff. Uh, this close enough?" Xander replied nervously, coming to a halt as Cordelia likewise stopped behind him.

If Xander had been still human, he would be holding his breath right now. Buffy noticed the lack of breathing on Xander's part, and tensed up. But then the realization that Xander, despite the different face and body, was still her Xander-shaped friend, impacted upon her mind. She had seen that look in his eyes before, and sparkle-pire or not, she could tell that the creature standing before her was not some soulless monster.

"It's okay, Xan," Buffy reassured him. "I can tell that you're still you, despite the, uh, movie star makeover."

"Okay. And I can't help thinking it's me who should be reassuring _you_, Buff," Xander replied, eyes locked on his crush. He took another step towards the Slayer, but she immediately took a step back. There was no conscious decision to do it; just an instinctive desire not to give a vampire close enough access to her neck, given his new undead nature and all.

At that moment, Xander was shocked at how Buffy reacted to him compared to how she reacted to Angel. Sure, there were significant differences between them; that guy couldn't go out in the daylight, for example. But – weren't they more or less the same now? Vampires with a soul? What did Lord of the Brood have that he didn't, which would make Buffy react like that?

'You already know the answer to that, dummy. She loves _him_, not you!' Xander's subconscious informed him nastily. Xander's subsequent realization that human or vampire, it just would not work out between him and Buffy was not a pleasant one; but since this was no time for denial, he faced it head on. 'Time to face reality, pal. Guess maybe those "Emmett" memories might come in useful, after all,' Xander thought ruefully.

Not far away, Cordelia huffed and crossed her arms 'Gee Buffy, take your time why don't you?' the cheerleader thought in annoyance.

Xander stiffened for a moment, before he quickly relaxed. No one else seemed to notice, not even Cordelia. Xander looked at the newly blonde female, who opened her mouth – but Harris cut off before she had the chance to utter a word.

"Don't Cordy, just – _don't_," Xander said in a tone no one had never heard him use before.

Cordelia simply glared right back at him, arms crossed under her breasts, knowing that Geekboy wasn't telling her something; not that she cared, but it was soooo annoying.

Bolstered by Xander's defense of her, the Slayer strode forward and hugged her best male friend, not even looking at Cordelia. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Buff, but why the hug-fest? Not that I'm complaining or anything," Xander said with a laugh, hugging his friend carefully.

"I don't know, Xander, it's just – my Slayer-sense isn't tingling anymore; and I-I don't know why I felt the urge to hug you," Buffy sobbed into Xander's chest, the last few hours finally taking their toll on her self-control.

Rubbing soothing circles on her back while he looked at the others, Xander noticed Giles going upstairs to his study. Cordelia was studying her nails, but he knew she could sense Buffy's heartbeat increase, just like he could. Willow just stared open-mouthed at the Chosen One. She had never seen Buffy act like this before.

Hearing Giles return, a few moments later Xander saw the older man holding a book as he came down the stairs. "What's that, Giles?"

"A reference book to explain why Buffy's Slayer-sense might have, well, for want of a better word, switched off, if you will," the Watcher stated.

Hearing this, Buffy let go of Xander and turned her tear-streaked face towards Giles, not caring how she looked. Willow got over her shock at Buffy's cry-fest and asked, "What do you mean, Giles?"

"Ah, well, a Watcher in the 1900s came across a coven of, um, what he called 'vegetarian vampires' in Africa. They went by the name of the, errr, Cullen family," Giles answered Willow's question.

"The Cullen's were _real_?" four voices demanded in unison. Xander, Cordy, Willow and Buffy all had the similar thought of 'maybe he knows how this can be reversed'. Not wanting to raise false hopes, though, Giles cleared his throat and spoke to the quartet.

"No, uh, the Cullen's and the whole 'Twilight' saga are purely fictional, as far as I know. I'm just pointing out why the Slayer essence inside Buffy might no longer be seeing you as a threat, Xander," Giles replied sheepishly.

"Great! Now onto more important matters. Because everyone thinks I've been kidnapped, Giles! So when are you going to change us back to normal, already?" Cordelia demanded.

Hating himself for saying this, Giles looked at the nodding teens. "Cordelia, you must understand – it may not be possible to turn you and Xander back into the human beings you once were. I'll try, but I need you to realize that it may not be possible."

Xander replied, "We know, Giles. It's just, you know, a little hope never hurt anybody?"

Willow quickly ran over to her first ever friend and grabbed him in a fierce hug, prompting Xander to very gently hug his friend back; all the while chanting 'Careful, careful' to himself. Willow's blood smelled _very _enticing. He noticed Giles beckon Cordelia to come with him and both slipped into the kitchen, unnoticed by both Willow and Buffy; who were focused solely on him.

"I don't care if you're human or not, Xander, you're still my...non-Xander-shaped best friend!" Willow said, a few tears falling.

"Awww, Will. You've been my best friend my whole life! And whether or not I ever go back to my normal Xander-shaped self, you'll always be my best friend," Xander replied with a smile.

"Same goes for you, Buff," Xander added, looking at his Slayer friend. He held out his other arm and pulled Buffy towards him once again. Both girls subsequently rested their heads on his chest, looking at each other sadly; noting and missing the familiar heartbeat.

A few seconds later Giles and Cordelia reappeared, armed with two trays; one with a coffeepot and the other holding two mugs that looked familiar to Xander.

Giles was the first to speak. "Xander, you...ermm...need to..." he stammered nervously.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" snapped Cordelia. "Just say it, Giles!"

"Cordy," Xander admonished her gently.

"What? We all know what you need to drink! What's the point in trying to hide it? And if those two can't handle seeing you drink blood now, then they didn't mean a damn thing of what they just said!" Cordelia finished her rant, banging the tray down so fiercely that it snapped in two, with Giles's coffeepot and mugs crashing to the floor.

The blonde girl suddenly disappeared, fleeing the room to the study upstairs so fast only Xander saw her go. Untangling himself from his girls, Xander sent a look to Giles before he likewise blurred and vanished, following after Cordelia.

"Wow," Willow looked astonished. "I mean, I guess I knew they could do that; I've read the books, but actually seeing it..."

"I should go after him," Buffy said firmly, before she realized she didn't actually know where Xander had gone.

"No, you shouldn't," Giles said just as firmly. "There's nothing you can do to assist in this matter, Buffy. Cordelia needs someone to, uh, talk to, and like it or not, Xander can handle this better w-without you."

Buffy and Willow nodded, understanding that Giles had a point there, before the Watcher bade them help him clean up the mess. "There's towels and what-not in the kitchen, Buffy – you grab the dustpan..."

Hearing sobbing upstairs, Xander made his way to the study. Knocking, he asked, "Cordy, can I come in please?"

"Go away, Xander, j-j-just leave me a-a-alone!" Cordelia shouted in a broken tone of voice.

"No. And I'm coming in anyway," Xander replied, opening the door.

Seeing Cordy slumped in between two bookcases, Harris went over and knelt in front of her, figuring he knew what had gotten her so upset. But when he went to place a hand on hers, she growled like an animal, making Xander pull back at once.

"Okay, no touching. That's fine, I get it. Look, Cordelia, I know what's wrong," Xander said, hoping she wouldn't freak out and attack him or something.

"Really? Go on, then, tell me. Or are you psychic now too, Geekboy?" Cordy demanded.

"No, Cordelia, I'm not," he replied. "And to be honest, I think it's best if you say it. I mean, you're Queen C, and you're stronger than this. You don't need the King of Cretins pointing out something you can't right? If nothing else, we can be honest with each other now that we're both – this," Harris gestured towards her 'Rosalie' body and his own 'Emmett' body.

"Fine. You have your friends downstairs, Xander, and they don't care that you're a vampire. But what about me?" the vampiress sobbed. "You think that my friends would do for me, what Buffy and Willow did for you? Harmony would be the first one to scream, 'Monster! Monster!' before trying to take my place in the school's social pyramid! Aura would be a close second, Joy, Gwen and Lisa would be a tie for third. Don't you get it? I'm all alone..."

"You're not alone, Cordy, I'm here. I'm here for you, I promise," Xander reassured her. He didn't really know why he was doing this; after all, up until last Friday, this girl had been one of his worst enemies at Sunnydale High.

Maybe it was because of Emmett's memories of Rosalie. Maybe it was because he was just a sucker for a damsel in distress. Maybe it was because he was starting to develop a white knight complex. Whatever the reason, Xander now found himself comforting the Queen of Mean and meaning every word he'd just said.

"God damn it, I want to believe you, Xander – but I CAN'T!" Cordy yelled, suddenly leaping up and grabbing Xander in a tight hold, causing both of them to fall over.

Xander was stunned, feeling those incredibly familiar breasts pressing against his chest. His body automatically started to respond, before Xander forced himself to think of Snyder – which, fortunately, helped him to remain safely flaccid. Placing a hand on the sobbing female in front of him, Xander somehow sat up and held the cheerleader tightly; rocking slightly, he spoke soothing words, reassuring Cordy that she would never be alone again.

When the sobbing eventually stopped, Cordelia took her head from off of Xander's shoulder, as she finally realized that she was straddling Xander's lap _very _suggestively. If Giles or Buffy or Willow came in at this moment, doubtless they would immediately leap to the wrong conclusion. 'Well, who cares? Right now I'm in need of some serious aid and comfort, and if they can't handle it, TOUGH!'

Finally making eye contact with Xander, Cordelia said, "Thank you for that, dweeb. But I think I kinda need to get off of you now."

"Yeah, I mean – even though this kind of feels like the most natural thing in the world, I'm not Emmett and you're not Rosalie. It's like, if anyone saw us..." Xander replied with a small smile.

"Ewww, you're right! So remind me never to hug you again, dorkhead!" Cordelia said, with a small smile of her own.

"Dorkhead? You slash me with your words!" Xander riposted. He could not help noticing that the insult was more playful than spiteful, though. He also could not help noticing that she was not vacating her spot straddling his groin, which finally made him lose all self-control as the blood rushed south and a certain 'something' inflated considerably.

Straightaway Cordelia leaped up, looking freaked. She had felt Xander's tool expand in a new direction just now, of course. "You perv!"

After he got up Harris reassured her, "It was purely involuntary; hey, I'm a guy, what did you expect after sitting on top of me like that for so long?" Seeing Cordelia glare at him, Xander hurriedly added, "But I meant what I said, Cordy, you won't be alone in this. Not while I'm alive – or undead, or whatever you want to call it."

Taking a deep breath, Cordelia tried to dispel the anger. After calming down, she finally felt able to talk about what had been bothering her. "Giles and Buffy and Willow have accepted what you are now, Xander, which is fine for you. But they're not _my_ friends, and so they won't accept me like this. Especially not the bottle-blonde freakazoid-"

"Don't call Buffy that," Xander said warningly. "Not even in private!"

"Fine. But lemme ask you something, Harris; if either of us ever lose control of the bloodlust, we both know that I'll be on your side if it's you. But whose side will you be on, if it's me? My side – or Buffy's?"

"Yours," Xander answered unhesitatingly. Hearing three sets of footsteps outside the room and knowing that Cordy had heard them too, he tightened his grip on her. "Just relax. You're not hiding the fact I'm with you on this, Cordy. I'm sure Giles has explained that to Will and the Buffster by now."

"I need to get out of here! Xander, they won't accept me! The odds are Giles has already ordered Buffy to kill me!" Cordelia replied, falling victim to blind panic.

The door to the study was pushed open and Giles strode into the room, as Xander automatically pushed Cordelia behind him. "Giles? What's the what?" he asked suspiciously. Despite his reassurances to Cordelia just now, there remained a small nugget of doubt in his heart about the Watcher's intentions.

But Giles said, in a tone which none of the Scoobies had ever heard before, "I couldn't help overhearing what you said just now. And you ARE accepted, do you hear me Miss Chase? Whilst staying under my roof you will never think yourself alone again, AM I CLEAR?!" the Watcher half growled, before pushing Xander aside and giving the girl a brief hug, looking directly into her eyes.

Xander stood to one side, full of disbelief at the change that had come over Giles; it was almost as if he had a previously-hidden split personality. The two girls in the doorway likewise stood in shock at the sight of the Sunnydale High librarian hugging a sparkle-pire. It wasn't as if he and Cordelia had ever been close enough to do that before Halloween, anyway.

"Yeah," Cordelia replied uncertainly to Rupert's question. "Clear enough, anyway."

"He's right, Cordy. And I promise, as long as you behave – or at least, keep acting like yourself – I won't be introducing you to Mr. Pointy, up close and personal," Buffy spoke up from the doorway.

"It's kinda like you're one of us now, Cordelia," Willow piped up from beside her friend. "We're your friends – well, sort of."

Xander drifted closer to the blonde and began rubbing circles on Cordelia's back, who for her part immediately relaxed into his embrace. Maybe it was everything since kindergarten or maybe it was something else, but whatever it was, Xander's actions suddenly caused a brief stab of jealousy in Willow's heart as she saw how intimately he and Cordelia were acting. 'What's Xander doing? Why's he being all so touchy-feely with Cordelia like that?'

Breaking the silence Xander spoke up, "Cordy, we need to feed. So let's go downstairs, all right?"

"Fine." Looking at the doorway at Buffy, Cordelia said imperiously, "Was there anything else?"

"Nah. Come on, Will, let's go heat up some O-Neg for our friendly neighbourhood sparkle-pires," the Slayer replied, nonchalantly turning to Willow who simply nodded in response.

The newly expanded Scooby gang headed downstairs, Xander and Cordelia walking arm-in-arm, and not having the slightest clue about what was headed their way.

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Abandoned Warehouse - Sunnydale Industrial Sector

Spike looked on in shock as his dark princess suddenly went berserk, tossing around anything she could get her hands on, running around and dusting his minions as she went. He had thought her too weak for something like that. Lighting up a cigarette, the being once called William the Bloody (but now known as Spike) took a drag of the cancer-stick, and walked over to Drusilla.

"C'mon, luv, calm down. Dru..." he began to say calmingly, as the rest of the minions ran for the hills.

"Spike-y, it's all wrong now, it is! The world, the world's all upside down and inside out. Kittens run when they should crawl," wailed the insane creature, who was the love of Spike's undead life.

"It's alright, luv. We'll fix it, just tell Daddy's what's wrong," Spike said soothingly.

"The stars say the kittens will always run now, my precious Spoike. They'll grow up so fast, and become wildcats, they will! Rip, and tear – and burn," Drusilla said crazily, wringing her hands. The vampiress suddenly grabbed her favorite doll.

"NO, MISS EDITH, NOOOO!" Drusilla screamed, throwing the doll into a blanket lined trunk at the foot of the bed.

"What is it, luv?" Spike asked curiously. Dropping his cigarette butt on the warehouse floor, he grabbed Dru by her shoulders, shaking her violently. "Dru?"

"The moon's whispering to me that Daddy will come, yes he will – but he won't get to come home. We won't be a family again!" Dru wailed once more, before going as limp as a rag doll.

Catching his sire before she hit the floor, Spike cursed before putting Dru on his shoulder, carrying her to their bedroom and placing the wailing vampiress onto the bed. The big bad Master vampire of Sunnydale subsequently strode from the room, black duster billowing behind him, in search of his chief lieutenant named Lucas.

Spike had no idea what Dru's cryptic prophecy truly meant, but given what Angel was like nowadays – cursed with a soul, a traitor to the Order of Aurelius and all the rest of his kind – the prediction that his grandsire would never again be on their side did not bother Spike too much. His priority was making sure Drusilla was restored to full health, anyway.

No matter who had to be sacrificed in order to make that happen.

Omake

Author comes in timidly: "I'm sorry this took so long, it's my college studies. Here, take a look."

Lugging a mountain of assignments on a red wagon into the room, the author points to the papers: "See? But I have not forgotten this fic, and I hope you'll like what will happen next."

Xander appears, glaring at her: "You made me embarrass myself in public!"

"Eeep!" Runs out of the room.

"Not that I didn't enjoy it on one level, sure, but it's the principle of the thing!" Runs after her. "And hey, did that last part mean I'm finally going to be getting some touch in this story?"

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	15. Chapter 15: The Unseen Victim

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

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Chapter 15 – The Unseen Victim

It was a sunny Tuesday morning, but within the Wells residence, there was no mother or father to appreciate said fact; they hadn't been for quite a while now. There was only a distant aunt, who occasionally checked in on her nephews; the high school senior named Tucker, and his younger brother, the sophomore named Andrew. But right now, Tucker wasn't present either...

Just Andrew, alone in his dark bedroom.

Shredded clothing lay all around, its owner sobbing and whimpering as he sat rocking in the deepest, darkest part of room. Andrew was naked except for a pair of tattered shorts – and a tattoo on the outer bicep of his right arm.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Startled, Andrew jumped to his feet and backed as far into the wall as he could. Downstairs the knocking on the front door eventually ceased and the boy exhaled loudly, as if releasing the tension he had been under.

"Okay, let's face it. You need help," Andrew said to the empty room.

After searching cupboards and sets of drawers for non-shredded clothing and finding them, he proceeded to dress himself. Feeling a tightness that wasn't there four days earlier, Wells opened the door to his bedroom and went downstairs. Still seeing no sign of his brother, he exited the house.

"Where do I go, where do I go..." Andrew repeated under his breath as he walked Sunnydale's sunny and pleasant-looking streets. Hearing the school bell from the high school he attended half a mile away, the young man jumped nervously. Paling a little as he contemplated his newly enhanced level of hearing, Andrew headed towards Sunnydale High.

'Don't think about all that now…just don't,' Andrew thought furiously to himself. 'Just go to school, find Tucker and then...what?'

Picking up the pace, Andrew entered the campus unseen through a chain link fence near the back – which, unbeknownst to him, was something a certain Slayer used to leave the high school whenever she needed to. Avoiding teachers and pupils alike, he soon found himself outside the AV room where Tucker was doing...something or other. "Tucker?"

The older Wells brother jerked up in surprise, before turning to stare at Andrew. He glared at his sibling, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Tucker, I need help-"

"You nearly killed me this morning, you freak! I'm not talking to you," Tucker glared at Andrew. "You should consider yourself lucky I didn't kick you out of the house yet!"

"I...I didn't mean to..."

"Just stay away from me," Tucker commanded firmly, still glaring at Andrew. "Seriously. Otherwise, if I ever succeed in raising a hellhound? I'll let it feed on _you_! Now get lost, Andrew!"

Andrew did so, ashamed of the tears that were flowing down his face but totally unable to help himself. Exiting the campus the same way he'd entered it, Andrew wandered the streets for the day – before he finally remembered something.

Glad that classes were now over for the day, Andrew snuck back into the high school Entering the library, Andrew's new highly developed sense of smell picked up musty books, dust, tea and cigarettes.

"Hello? Mr. Giles?" Wells called out, hoping with all his might that the man was here.

"Hello, who's there?" the English librarian said, coming out of his office. Then Giles caught sight of the newcomer. "Ah, I thought all the students had gone for the day. Um, can I help you?" he asked.

"I…n-n-need…help," Wells stammered, wringing his hands and looking anywhere but at the librarian.

"Err, yes, um, what's your name? I...I don't recall seeing you in here before," Giles said carefully, seeing that the boy was traumatized.

"Andrew. Andrew Wells." Fresh tears started spilling down his cheeks, as Andrew slumped to the floor.

Giles rushed to the boy, placing a hand on shoulder. "No, uh, do get up, let's get you seated at the table," he said, helping the sobbing Andrew up and into a chair at the main research table.

"I'm…s-sorry, m-mister…G-Giles," Andrew sobbed.

"Perfectly all right," Giles said stiffly. Waiting until Andrew had taken a deep breath and his tears has stopped, Giles asked if he wanted something to drink. When he received an affirmative answer, he got the boy some water from the water cooler in his office.

"Now, Andrew, c-can you tell me what's wrong?" Giles asked gently, as Andrew placed the paper cup on the table. "Do I, um, need to take you the school nurse? O-or the school counsellor? Granted, th-they both might've gone home for the day, but..."

"No! I – it's about Halloween," Andrew interrupted, picking up his cup and gulping down some more water.

"Halloween? What exactly, errrr...tell me what happened. Can you, uh, do that?" Giles asked, realizing that his 'brood' of teenagers were not the only ones Ethan had enspelled.

"Ermm, well, I went to Ethan's, the new costume shop place – and I got my costume..." Andrew said nervously. "And afterwards, I...it was like I really was..." Wells then cut himself off.

"What did you dress up as, Andrew?" Giles asked simply. "And whatever you transformed into, I'm assuming you didn't change back afterwards?"

'Oh my God, it looks like all the rumors are true?' "Mr. Giles, you don't think I'm crazy or lying?"

"No, Andrew, I don't," Giles sighed. "And you may want to tell me everything."

"Okay, uh, my costume was from the Twilight Saga, one of the Quileute's – do you know what that is, Mr. Giles?" Andrew asked.

"I do, Andrew, I-I've read the novels," Giles replied, grateful for the fact that he'd read them over the last two days. "Still, refresh my memory?"

"They're shapeshifters, Mr. Giles, werewolves. I went as Seth Clearwater; that Ethan guy had a checked hooded T-shirt and one of the tattoos that Stephanie Meyer endorses," Andrew babbled, calming down a little. "Oh! Could you forget I said that? Because otherwise, I..."

Realizing what the boy was going to say, Giles hurried to reassure him, "Andrew? I will not tell anyone what you have told me today. Please continue."

"Thank you, Mr. Giles, uh – okay. You know how the character can turn into a wolf? Well, now I can too. It, it took me three days to turn human again," Andrew admitted, looking at Giles worriedly.

"It's alright, Andrew, I'm glad you told me. You aren't the only one to suffer the, um, leftovers of Halloween. Err, uh, do you have any family?" Giles asked, now glad he aired the library out and told Xander and Cordelia to stay at his condo.

"My parents died last year and my big brother hates me, 'cause I nearly killed him – Tucker told me to stay away from him from now on," Andrew replied, banging his fist on the table and leaving a small dent.

Looking down in horror Andrew stood quickly up in his chair, before falling to the ground with a loud crash. Realizing what the boy was about to do, Giles quickly rushed around to Andrew and grasped him firmly by the shoulders.

"Now, listen to me Andrew, just calm down! Be calm, alright? There's been worse damage in here over the past year or so."

Picking the chair up and setting Wells down firmly in his chair, Giles ran his fingers through his hair. Encouraging the boy to finish his cup of water, Giles then said, "Andrew, I need your permission to ask someone to come to the library. I'm just going to call them from my private office – I won't be long. Um, I should perhaps mention they'll understand what's happened to you as they're – going through something, too?" Giles said, skating as close to the truth as he dared without revealing the big secret.

"O-o-okay. I trust you, Mr. Giles," Andrew stammered nervously.

Squeezing his shoulder supportively, Giles headed into his private office to call the vampiric duo he suspected might be able to help this boy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Giles's Condo 6PM

Cordelia Chase was definitely worried.

She had been hanging around Rupert's apartment all day, researching alongside Xander Harris. Well, he who didn't LOOK like her old insult partner anymore, but who was still the big dork on the inside where it counted. Usually she was able to remember that, but there had been times today when she'd glanced up at him and seen only Emmett Cullen – Rosalie Hale's husband, plus Carlisle and Esme Cullen's adopted son. And thanks to Rosalie's memories from her Halloween possession, Cordelia had found herself having feelings that she had hidden but her Rosalie memories brought back full bore.

'I can't believe I really do the Geek boy, Oh God I really do' she thought.

Such thoughts were very unwelcome, though. Cordelia was still a virgin, and she didn't want to lose her virginity to someone she'd practically despised since kindergarten well up until this year. Even though Xander had been incomprehensibly kind and understanding since yesterday, feeling his penis inflate between her legs while she'd been straddling him the previous night had made it clear that he was definitely still the King of Cretins.

Still, the worst part was that Cordelia knew her resistance was starting to erode, the vampire lust was starting to inflame her mind and it was becoming harder to control herself around him. If this wasn't fixed soon, Cordelia was afraid that she'd lose _all_ self-control and simply drag Xander into Giles' bedroom, locking the door behind her...

The sound of the phone ringing distracted the now-blonde female vampire from her troubled thoughts. Both Xander and Cordelia looked at each other, shrugging before Harris stood and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" Xander said.

"Xander, it's me."

"Oh, hi Giles," Xander replied, looking at Cordelia. She simply looked at him and shrugged again. Standing up, she grabbed their mugs of blood and went into the kitchen. Turning his attention back to the phone, Harris said, "What's up, G-man?"

"Don't call me that. And we have a, uh, another victim of Ethan's 'prank'," Giles said, sounding like he was gritting his teeth.

"Another Halloween 'special', huh? Who and what did they dress up as?" Xander asked, feeling troubled.

"Err, I need you and Cordelia to come to the library to hear it. I can't tell you, the young man in question needs to say it," Giles replied. "Can you come?"

Cordelia back into the room as Xander was just agreeing and putting the receiver down. "What's wrong?" she asked straightaway. "Because I know _that_ look!"

"Ermm, we kinda need to go the library, Cordy," Xander said hesitantly.

"WHY?!" Cordelia said icily. "You need your daily Buffy and Willow fix, and they can't come here?"

"No! Uggh. Look, Cordy, Giles just told me someone's going through the same thing we are, so I figure there's another sparkle-pire around. We need to help them."

"I repeat, WHY?" Cordy said tearfully.

Realizing the real reason for Cordy's tears, Xander put his arms around round her and sighed. "Look - this kid has gone to Giles for help. And he had no one else to go to. So I'm going. Come with me? PLEASE, Cordelia. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really want you there. If it's another Cullen..." He stroked her cheek tenderly, just like Emmett used to do to Rosalie, which almost made Cordelia melt. "Please come."

"Okay, dweeb boy, but you so _owe_ me for this," Cordelia said testily, realizing that Xander would not back down and besides, she didn't want to be alone here once he'd gone. 'God damn it, I HATE the fact that the loser now has so much power over me! If Harmony was here to see this, she'd laughing her head off and justifiably sneering at me! I – hey! Who said you could stop stroking my cheek, YOU ASSHOLE!'

"Let's go, are you comfortable running at vamp speed?" Xander asked.

"No! Can we walk normally? I mean, it's dark now, we won't – sparkle. Please, Xander," Cordy pleaded as much as Queen C could.

"Alright, Cordy. We both carry one stake each, though," Xander said forcefully.

"Fine." Both teens were glad they had eaten earlier, and as they headed out Cordelia wrapped an arm around Xander. Harris looked surprised, but didn't say anything; so walking together, they just headed towards the high school.

As they left Oak Park Drive, though, two men walked towards them, smiling widely. Both teens looked at each other, noting the lack of heartbeat.

"Ready, Cordy?" Xander asked simply.

Seeing Cordelia's affirmative nod in reply, the almost-couple continued walking towards the men. And once within range, the men's faces changed into the ridges and fangs common to the resident Sunnydale bloodsuckers.

"Lookie what we got here, Mike," the fugly-looking vamp on Xander's left drawled. "A free meal!"

"Yeah, but the smell, Dave," the other vamp replied mulishly. "I say let's just forget the whole thing, and find someone else who doesn't stink-"

"STINK? STINK?! MISTER, I DO _NOT _STINK!" Cordelia snarled immediately, forgetting her stake and rushing forward to literally tear Mike's head from his shoulders.

'That's my girl, WHOA, Okayyy no bad Xander' thought Xander.

The dust exploded everywhere. Seeing Dave about to flee, Xander rushed forward and staked him before he could move one millimeter.

"What the hell…" Dave had just enough time to say before turning to ashes himself.

Turning to the blonde and ignoring the ash on the ground before them, Harris asked, "Cordy?"

"Yeah?" Cordelia said, her chest heaving with pent-up emotion. In fact, it was taking everything she had not to tackle Xander to the ground right now, and….!

"Well, not that I'm complaining but I thought you didn't want to use vamp speed?" Xander asked carefully. He could see and feel what his female counterpart was going through, and figured it was wise to treat her like an unexploded bomb. Otherwise, one wrong move, and – BOOM!

"I didn't, but that guy pissed me off Xander, and I just – I dunno, I went all Rosalie without realizing it," Cordelia replied, calming down a little.

Placing a soothing hand on her back, Harris said, "I understand. Come on, Cor, let's get to the library. Okay?"

"Okay. But never mind what I said earlier," Cordelia growled, her vampire senses working overtime. "Let's get there at vamp speed. In fact, race you there!"

She blurred and vanished, just as Xander did the same. Less than a second later at the library, they found a shocked and subdued Andrew Wells and an anxious Giles. When they entered, Andrew stood up in obvious shock – before looking at Giles uncertainly.

"Xander, Cordelia, thank you both for coming," Giles said simply. "Please say hello to, uh, Andrew Wells."

"You're, you're Emmett and Rosalie Cullen," Andrew mumbled, still looking shocked.

"Yeah, on the outside. But on the inside I'm Xander Harris, and this is Cordelia Chase," Xander reassured him. "You're a sophomore, right? I've seen you around the school, you're what – a year or so behind Cordy and me?"

"Yeah," Andrew nodded.

"You smell of wet dog," Cordelia said sardonically.

"Thanks, ermm, you guys don't exactly smell like roses either, you know," Andrew replied, looking to Giles for support.

Chuckling, Xander sat down and reassuringly, "It's okay, dude. We both smell ripe to each other, so don't worry about it."

Huffing, Cordelia sat down next to Giles. She sent Xander something he was beginning to dub 'THE LOOK', which promised he was going to pay for that comment later. 'I'm just not sure how, yet, but I'll probably use one of Rosalie's old tricks to make hurt extra bad!'

"Just ignore Cordelia, she's almost as new to all this as you are," Xander assured Andrew, deliberately ignoring Cordy's thoughts. "So. You dressed up as a Quileute on Halloween, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Seth Clearwater," Andrew nodded, looking at Xander with an odd look in his eye.

"Could have been worse," Xander shrugged. "At least you still look like yourself."

Deciding that Xander needed help, Cordelia spoke up, "Let's tell him what happened to us from the beginning, dweeb boy. And you better let _me_ tell the story, you'd be sure to screw something up!"

"And with that from Queen C, I will begin," Harris replied with a smirk.

"No, I will!" Cordelia glared at him.

"Will not," Xander said grinning.

"Will too!"

"Will not."

"Will too!"

"Children," Giles started polishing his glasses, even though Xander and Cordelia both ignored him.

After the bickering was over Andrew listened as Xander and Cordelia told their story, with Giles chiming in every now and again up until the walk to the library. "So...you guys are trapped as sparkle-pires now?" Wells eventually asked.

"Yes," both teens replied in perfect unison, one more subdued than the other.

"Right. Well, you told me yours so, ermm..." Andrew said, and then without taking a single breath he added, "I went at Seth Clearwater from the books and I spent the last three days as a wolf in the woods, I almost killed my brother when I got home, I can smell long distance, I have extremely excellent hearing since he had the best hearing in the Quileute pack from my memories he was youngest cub I mean kid..."

"Errm, slow down, please," Giles asked pleadingly. As the token mortal around here, he couldn't keep up with what Andrew was saying, even though Xander and Cordy could.

"Last night in the woods, I think I may have killed people. They had fangs and smelt funny," Andrew suddenly confessed, looking sick over his last statement.

"Andrew, I can assure you, they were _not _people. Believe me!" Giles hurriedly reassured him.

"He's right, they weren't people, buddy. They were vampires," Xander added.

"Vampires?" Andrew echoed. He knew about the demons around here, thanks to Tucker, but zilch about the local undead.

"Yeah. And may I say, pretty cool on the phase thing?" Xander said reassuringly.

"Thanks," Andrew whispered, looking at the research table.

"Wells, I mean – Andrew. Look, pay attention to what I'm saying! Those things were NOT people," Cordy stated firmly. Xander had automatically drifted over to her side, and without thinking her hand grabbed his tightly. "You defended yourself against them, then I say good for you. Just keep in mind that you're not a murderer or anything, okay?"

No boy could ever resist a command from Queen C, no matter what she currently looked like. Finally letting it sink in that he was, indeed, not a murderer, Andrew relaxed for the first time in four days. A grumble from his stomach then alerted everyone to his hunger.

"Have you eaten today, Andrew?" Giles asked, mentally kicking himself for not thinking when the boy paled.

"I..." Wells began to reply, before cutting himself off.

"You ate animal meat raw, like a wolf would," Xander filled in for him.

"Andrew, it's okay. That – it, um, it wasn't you," Giles reassured the Quileute.

"You don't understand. I still crave raw meat now, Mr. Giles!" Andrew cried out, looking afraid.

"Hey, so you like your meat extremely rare nowadays, no biggie. I prefer animal blood myself," Xander said, patting Andrew on the shoulder uncomfortably.

Cordelia whacked him with her other hand, causing Xander to yelp. Seeing this, Andrew could not help wondering what was going on between 'Emmett' and 'Rosalie'. He had known who these two were before Halloween, of course, _everyone _at Sunnydale High knew the most popular girl in school and almost everyone knew of the social leper colony that was the Scooby Gang. But he hadn't known that Xander and Cordelia were together romantically...if in fact they were.

Looking at Xander, Andrew then wondered how he was being so cool about this. As if he knew he was thinking, Harris said, "Hey, pal, truth is if I don't make a 110 percent effort to chill about this, I would have gone nuts since yesterday!"

"Same here," Cordelia admitted uncomfortably, grasping Xander's hand tighter.

Andrew suddenly froze, sniffing the air and whipped his head towards the doors. At the same time, both Xander and Cordelia turned towards the double doors, making Giles frown and do the same.

"Hi" said a tanned black haired boy standing 6ft 8 who with two boys of similar appearance who all caught sight of Xander, Cordelia and Andrew all staring at them.

And as was typical of the Hellmouth, the surprises never stop.

TBC...


	16. Chapter 16: Alpha And Omega

Chapter 16 – Alpha and Omega

"Who are you people?" Giles asked, breaking the momentary silence which had fallen over the library.

"I'm Oz, behind me is Jonathon and Warren" said the boy pointing each of them out.

"You look too old to be a student" sated Giles.

"I assure I am Sir, I am a Senior" replied OZ

"W..w.. we're…Junior, Mr Giles" stammered Jonathon cautiously peeking out from behind Oz.

"I am Giles, this is Andrew, Xander and Cordelia"

"OZ?" Cordelia yelped before anyone could reply, taking in the young man who was now nearly seven feet tall.

"Rosalie Cullen," Oz nodded back at her. "Or not?"

"It's me, CORDELIA! And how did you – damn it, Oz, when did you get so _tall_? Last I saw, you were barely even as tall as Willow!" Cordelia ranted.

"Cordelia. Huh," Oz said in his usual laid-back, non-committal way. Despite the growth spurt, he was obviously still Mr. Cool at heart, the unfazeable man. "And as for the other part, Halloween."

"Halloween? Oh, God, not you too!" Cordy said in exasperation. "Wait, hang on – you weren't part of the kiddie escort thing! We talked at the school, you didn't even have a costume. You were supposedly to be playing a gig at the Shelter Club or wherever, on Friday night!"

"Yeah. Thing is, disposable tattoo," Oz shrugged, lifting up his T-shirt to show everyone the same sort of tattoo Andrew had. He then looked at Giles and introduced himself, "Hi. I'm Oz, behind me is Jonathan and Warren," the tall boy pointed each of them out.

"Jonathan. Hey," Xander greeted his acquaintance.

"Emmett Cullen?" replied Jonathan, looking confused.

"It's me, Xander!" Harris shook his head. "Xander Harris?"

Both Warren and Jonathan looked at each other, unable to believe that the girl who was the top of the school's social pyramid, and the guy who was considered an outcast loser by practically everyone at Sunnydale High, were together in the same room – and were holding hands. Then again, given the rank smell, it was obvious that they weren't human anymore. They were...cold ones with bloody teeth, the phrase jumped out of their spell-ridden memories.

Oz however looked at Cordelia and actually made an expression; he frowned. "Cordelia, if that's you, Devon's been wondering where you are. We heard on the news that you were kidnapped? Guessing that's just disinformation, though."

'Oh my God – _Devon_!' Cordelia thought to herself in horror, before she blurred and vanished. Xander, the only one who had seen which direction she had left, quickly blurred and vanished as well, chasing after her.

"Uh, yes, well, do come in and sit down," Giles motioned the boys to come in and sit down. All three newcomers immediately sniffed the air after entering the library. Noting Andrew was tanned like them, they relaxed and sat.

"Those two smelled _bad_," Warren said with a frown, looking around and wondering where the two vampires had gone.

"Apparently, we smell bad to them too," Andrew said, reassured how he was not the only werewolf in the room now. He already knew what the three newcomers were, even though he hadn't seen the tattoos on Warren and Jonathan yet. The newly arrived trio had become Quileutes from the Twilight saga, just like himself.

Giles cleared his throat, "So, uh, what can I do for you? I mean, is there something I can help you with?"

"Ermm, w-well, Mr. Giles, we think you're the best person to help us after what happened on Halloween," Jonathan spoke up timidly, he had heard the rumors like Andrew.

"We know Sunnydale has a "PCP-related gang problem", Mr. Giles, and we heard that you might know something about what really happens in this town," Warren added. "Namely, why the heck we ended up werewolves during the weekend!

"See, I got attacked on Halloween before everything went weird and we changed. A vampire attacked me on Main Street but Oz hit it with his van, and a few seconds later we found Jonathan with another vamp, but then we all changed; we tore their throats out, and once decapitated they exploded into dust," the engineering genius, whose destiny had changed in a big way, finished up.

"Yeah. I knew something was weird about this town, but I didn't think that it was vampires," Oz spoke calmly.

Cleaning his glasses vigorously, with a quick glance around Giles excused himself, got up and went into the office to call Buffy. He was glad he had given her an emergency cell phone for situations like this, as otherwise Joyce would have gotten very suspicious...

"Did you experience that? Everything going to hell, I mean. We all felt immense pain and eventually woke up – with memories which were not our own," Oz said, staring at Andrew.

"Yeah. So did you phase too?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, we did," Oz replied, glancing at Jonathan and Warren, who paled.

"Guys, it's okay! They were vamps, yeah, but they weren't people," Andrew said urgently. "I heard it from Xander and Cordelia and Mr. Giles just now. The local vampires around here, they're _monsters_. Soulless demons. They're nothing like the vampires from the Twilight novels!"

"Thanks. Load off of my mind," Oz replied, letting out a long breath. Both Warren and Jonathon also felt relief and showed it.

Andrew spoke up once more, "So who did you guys dress up as?"

"I went as Jacob Black, Jonathan went as Embry Call, and Warren went as Quil Ateara," Oz replied stoically.

"Seth Clearwater. Errmm, I kinda feel better now, knowing I'm not the only one that can phase," Andrew said, almost laughing in relief.

"We're all in this together, looks like," Oz said reassuringly.

Feeling more assured than he had when Giles had reassured him earlier that everything would be okay somehow, Andrew relaxed once again. 'It's gonna be okay now. I just know it!'

Giles reappeared out of the office, nodding to Oz. "I, um, I just called someone you might be interested in meeting, she'll be here soon. So, uh, let's start again. What can you tell me happened after the Halloween spell was broken?"

"Spell?" Warren asked, looking astonished. "You mean, magic is _real_?"

"Yes," Giles said simply. "That is why you've, uh, all become werewolves. Well, Twilight-type werewolves, anyway."

"There's a difference between us and, well..._normal_ werewolves?" Jonathan demanded.

"I don't know, it's something I'd have to consult my books on," Giles gestured around himself. "Now, as I said, let's start again. What can you tell me?"

"Well, when we woke up, we were all naked in the woods. Couldn't help noticing we had all changed, one way or another," Oz said laconically.

"I'm taller," Jonathon said happily.

"We have a better sense of smell, can hear long distance, ermm, we...prefer raw or extremely rare meat," Warren said with a pause.

"It's okay, so do I," reassured Andrew.

"It's weird having someone else's memories," Oz said slowly, leading the rest of his pack to chuckle.

"Um, so let me get this clear; we now have two vampires and four werewolves from the Twilight novels, a-a-and you all have the memories and abilities of the people you dressed up as?" Giles asked, looking afraid.

Receiving nods in response his question Giles sighed and cleaned his glasses once more. "Bloody hell..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

Up in the stacks, barely a moment after having left the main area of the library, Cordelia was constantly shaking her now naturally-blonde head. 'I don't believe this. How could I have totally forgotten about Devon? I mean, I didn't think about him even _once_ since I woke up a vampire yesterday?'

Well, the popular cheerleader HAD had a lot on her mind since then, granted. But still, it was rather disturbing that the guy she was currently dating – Devon McLeish, the lead singer for _Dingoes Ate My Baby_ – hadn't entered Miss Chase's mind once since Monday morning. And even though Cordy had been and still was planning to break it off with him for flaking on her once too often, she nonetheless felt something akin to shame for her actions.

Thanks to her Rosalie memories, she was no longer the vain, self-centered, and shallow person she was before Halloween, narcisstically pleased with her physical beauty and constantly desiring attention from everyone around her.

"Hey," Xander said carefully, after getting here at vamp speed. "Cordy, you okay?"

"No, I'm NOT okay!" she hissed at him, unable to help herself. "Not only am I officially missing presumed kidnapped, but the guy I've been dating lately is worried about me – whilst I didn't give a damn about him! So what kind of person does that make me, Xander?"

"An ordinary human being like all the rest of us, if you'll, uh, pardon the expression right now," Xander shrugged, referring to his and Cordelia's current undead nature. "It'll be okay, Cor. As soon as Giles gets us fixed up, you can explain the situation to your boyfriend-"

"And what if that doesn't happen? What if we're _stuck_ like this, Harris?" Cordelia demanded, coming closer to him.

"Giles will figure out something. And if he can't, we'll track down that Ethan guy, the one responsible for this whole mess in the first place," Xander said reasonably, having come to that conclusion after thinking about it for the last thirty-six hours. "He'll know how to undo this."

"How can you be sure?" Cordelia demanded.

"Well, I guess I can't. But if there's one thing I _do_ know for re, it's that it can't hurt to hope for the best," Xander told her firmly.

"How much do you remember about Emmett's life, Xander?" Cordelia demanded, seemingly changing the subject.

"All of it," Xander admitted. "Almost getting killed by that bear. Getting turned by Carlisle. I remember Esme and Alice and Jasper and Edward – and Bella too, especially the way she beat me during our arm wrestling matches. And you – I mean, Rosalie. Marrying her all those times..."

"Exactly!" Cordelia cut him off. "Xander, can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure."

"I want to be a mother one day, just like Rosalie did," Cordelia told him, her marble-like skin unable to blush red despite how embarrassed she was as she said that. "I don't – I don't want to be like this. I don't want to have zero hope of ever having children. And even though I'm gonna dump Devon as soon as I'm 'me' again, I don't want him to worry about me, or get himself killed looking for me," Cordelia confessed.

"Maybe I can get some kinda message to him?" Xander offered. "Pass him a handwritten note or something to tell him that you're okay, I mean."

"Yeah, but I'm NOT okay!" Cordelia exploded, cursing her inability to cry real tears. Her voice starting to hiccup and sob, "I'm not okay..."

Straightaway Xander hugged her, and Cordelia wrapped her arms around him. They stayed that way for a few seconds, until Harris broke it off. "Feeling better now?"

"A little," the blonde confessed, unwilling to admit even to herself just how much she'd wanted and needed that hug. Just how much she wanted Xander to hold her tightly, and never let go. "Anyway, dorkhead, we have something else to discuss."

"We do?"

"Yeah. Namely, those four werewolves downstairs," Cordelia gestured her head towards the main area of the library. "Because they can kill us, Xander. They're the only things in this world which can! It's not that I don't trust Oz, of course, and maybe even Jonathan; heck, I went on a date with him before I hooked up with Devon, so I figure he's probably okay. But I don't know that Andrew Wells guy – and ditto with that other werewolf, who was standing alongside Oz and Jonathan."

"He's a junior like us, I'm guessing. No idea who this Warren person is, myself," Xander confessed. "But look; whoever the guy dressed up as for Halloween, he's no more that Twilight character than I'm Emmett and you're Rosalie. It'll be okay, Cor," he said reassuringly.

"Well, I hope so. But what if it's not?"

"I won't let any of them hurt you," Xander said without hesitation. "Listen, as long as you watch my back, I'll watch yours." He took hold of Cordelia's hand, and gazed deep into her golden eyes. "They can't take us, not as long as we're looking out for each other. So until everything goes back to normal, we stick to one another like glue, okay?"

"Okay," Cordelia nodded. Right now she had utterly no problem with that scenario, and hugged Xander again tightly.

Cordelia was the one to break off the hug this time, barely a few seconds later, just before she gave into temptation and started making out with Xander within the stacks. 'I'm Cordelia Chase and I _don't_ cheat, damn it! I'll end things with Devon properly, and once we're human again I'll see where things stand between Xander and me. Hopefully that stupid crush he has on Buffy is no longer an issue, but if it is, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it...oh, speak of the devil!'

"Buffy and Willow are coming," Xander said, having smelled the Slayer and computer hacker at the same moment Cordelia had. "Shall we?"

"Yeah, why not..." Cordelia shrugged, before they both blurred and vanished from human sight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

"Bloody hell," Giles said, but his next sentence was interrupted by the resident Slayer entering through the library doors along with Willow.

"Hi, Xander, did you miss me today?" the blonde girl chirped, looking around for her best male friend. "Xander?" She couldn't see him anywhere, before he and Cordelia appeared out of nowhere.

"Actually, Buff, I figure we just need to talk to ya about something," Xander said, briefly hugging Willow who had rushed to his side.

"Awww, Xander. Way to make me feel unneeded," the Slayer pouted.

"Buffy, please. This is Oz, Jonathan, Warren and Andrew," Giles said sternly.

"Geez, Giles, don't have a cow about...whatever this is," Buffy said, leaning against the check-out counter. "And hey, guys, nice to meetcha. Well, I already know you of course, Jonathan, but whatever."

"Buffy. Been a while since the International Dance," Levinson greeted the Chosen One with a slight blush. Granted his body temperature was already at 108 degrees, but he somehow managed it anyway.

"Hi, everybody," Willow spoke up, receiving waves and "Hi's" from everyone. "I'm Willow."

"Yes. Well, Buffy, Willow, this is the situation. These four young men have, um, become the Twilight versions of werewolves," Giles said, gesturing to the pack.

"What?" Buffy obviously couldn't believe it. "Jonathan, you're become a member of the Lon Chaney club?"

"Sort of, and Oz is our, uh, pack leader. The alpha. He's – Oz? OZ!" Jonathan said, almost shouting to get the boy's attention and making everyone jump a little.

The reason Oz had frozen was because he'd caught sight of Willow, who now turned to face him. Her attention now fully upon the shape-shifter, Oz looked deep into her eyes. It was like they were gazing deep into each other's souls. The bass guitarist had seen Willow before, of course, but she had never noticed him until now.

Warren clicked his fingers into front of Oz's eyes. "Hey dude, you still with us?"

"I think he imprinted on her, guys," Andrew spoke up. Namely, Oz had channeled all of his affections towards Willow, who was now most likely his future spouse.

"W-w-wow," Willow said dazedly, realization setting in as to what that truly meant.

"OZ!" Jonathan yelled in his pack leader's ear.

Jumping, the alpha jumped out of his seat. "What happened?"

"You froze, dude," Warren said simply.

"Am I your imprintee, Oz?" Willow asked dazedly.

"Yeah, I – guess. Are you okay with that? I mean, I'll be whatever you want me to be," Oz hurried to reassure his imprint. "Your friend, or whatever. 'Cause we just met 'n all."

Jonathan stood up, motioning Willow to take his seat. Levinson subsequently sat next to Andrew as the computer hacker joined Oz. 'Wow. An imprint! This is so weird...'

"Oh! Thanks, Jonathan," the redhead then turned and briefly smiled at him. They knew each other, as both Willow and Jonathan were Jewish and their families used to attend Temple together when they were younger.

"You're welcome," the new werewolf shrugged. He figured the odds were Willow would eventually become a member of the pack, after all.

"So, you guys are werewolves," Buffy piped up, looking concerned how her best friend was staring at Oz. Someone now tall enough that the school basketball coach would doubtless beg him to join the varsity team, in order for Sunnydale High to finally win the state championship.

"Yep," Oz replied simply to the Slayer's question.

"Buffy, they know about vampires," Giles spoke up, sharing a look with his Slayer. "And since these four young men are no longer entirely human, I-I think it would behove all our interests to explain to them just what Sunnydale is, a-and what they're likely to run into in terms of the, um, night life, as it were."

"Umm, if you're sure, Giles. I mean, you're the boss, I just work here," the Slayer stuttered, dumbfounded for once in her life.

Giles began, "This world is older than, than any of you four know…"

The non-Scooby gang members sat dumbfounded as Giles explained about everything which went bump in the night. He told Oz, Jonathan, Warren and Andrew about vampires; such as the Master, the Anointed One, Drusilla and Spike. He told them about demons like Moloch and Natalie French, the Preying Mantis Lady. He even told them about the Primal Hyena possession and the Pack members (leaving Xander to tell his own story about that another time). He basically covered all the things that had happened within the last year and a half.

"So there, gentlemen, you have it. This is Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," Giles finished up, gesturing at his charge.

"Hi, boys," Buffy said with a smile.

"You've fought the undead since you were fifteen?" Oz asked, actually looking stunned for once.

"So that's why Kyle and his buds ended up in the loony bin," Warren said, looking at Xander quickly.

"And why the school got swamped with those vamps on Parent-Teacher Night," Jonathan said, gulping.

"Yes, um, all of that was related to Buffy, and of course Willow and Xander," Giles said, before looking at Cordelia who nodded and rolled her eyes. "And Miss Chase, too."

"Hey Giles, looks like the Scooby gang ranks have definitely expanded," Xander said gleefully. "Any chance we can finally get those decoder rings and secret handshakes set up?"

Any retort Giles was about to make to that was destined never to be heard, as all the werewolves suddenly froze and growled. All four boys began sniffing the air and then whipped their heads towards the stacks. At the same time, both Xander and Cordelia turned towards that part of the library containing the access point to the sewers, making Giles frown and do the same. Buffy and Willow, shocked at this behavior, also glanced towards the back of the library.

"Hey, I-" Angel started to say as he did his patented Stealthy Appearance act, but then he caught sight of the growling Oz, Warren, Jonathan and Andrew. All the others were staring at him as well, it seemed like he'd been expected or something...

And then, the shit immediately hit the fan.

A/N: DUN, DUN, DUN, I know I'm evil. But fear not! The next chapter will hopefully come soon!


	17. Chapter 17: Dissension In The Ranks

Chapter 17 – Dissension In The Ranks

Oz gently moved Willow and her chair behind him, still snarling, his eyes never leaving Angel's broad-shouldered form. The alpha werewolf got up from the table and took four steps forward, with Jonathan, Warren and Andrew all falling in beside him; the trio literally growling and snarling like their leader.

Angel held his hands up in the universal gesture of surrender. "Whoa, whoa, calm down," he said quickly, looking at Buffy and Giles. "What the-?"

"VAMPIRE!" Oz snarled, his body seeming to tremble before it began...well, rippling.

The humans and vampires alike could only watch it unfold. The Alpha phased in a flurry of rippling muscle and clothes shredding and growling, something that terrified the one once called The Scourge of Europe. The rest of the wolf pack followed their leader's example, chairs smashing and clothes shredding to make way for four extremely large werewolves, all snarling and growling ferociously. The library table they were sitting at was thrust away, as Willow just sat there looking stunned.

OZ was still snarling, growling and gnashing his teeth at Angel as the pack members surrounded him, all growling like their leader.

_'What do we do, Oz?' _Warren asked through the mental link.

_'Whoa, you guys can talk to each other like in the Twilight books?' _Andrew asked, stunned.

_'Yeah. And so can you – it must be like you're kinda part of the pack now, like when Seth left the…' _Jonathan started to say.

_'CONCENTRATE!' _came the overriding telepathic command from the Alpha, shutting the trio up instantly.

Still stunned, the humans could only look on in disbelief as Angel was surrounded on all sides by four werewolves. It happened so quickly that even Buffy had no time to react. Xander just looked at Angel, half tempted to simply sit back and watch – but with a heavy sigh, he got ready to intervene. Well, at least he could enjoy witnessing the visibly shaking Angel, even if Giles and Buffy couldn't see him doing that.

'Thank you, vampire senses, how I love thee,' Xander thought, grinning internally.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. She hadn't known Angel was a vampire up until now – well, actually, no, that wasn't quite true. She'd been told, she just hadn't believed it! But there was no mistaking that odor now. Even if Angel didn't smell exactly like those two idiot vamps she and Xander had dusted on their way over here... 'What's that about, dorkhead?'

'That'd be Angel's soul you're smelling, I betcha. The one tolerable thing about him. Well, Cor, how's it feel knowing that before Halloween, you were lusting after a walking corpse?' Xander asked with a smile.

'None of your business! And I suppose you're wanting to play hero now in order to impress Buffy?' Cordy thought, watching Xander get into position and wondering if she too would have try and stop the werewolves if they attacked the ensouled vampire.

'Me play hero and save Angel?' Xander's mental 'voice' definitely sounded amused. 'Tempting, real tempting. But I doubt he'd appreciate it, so let's see how this plays out first.'

Buffy stepped forward to address the snarling wolves, earning another eye roll from Cordelia at her stupidity. "Guys, calm down! Please, I can explain," Buffy said urgently.

"She's right! Oz, please! Angel's a friend!" Willow called out, also standing up and standing in front of Oz.

Summoning every single piece of courage she had, Willow gulped and placing a hand on the snarling werewolf's chest, she looked into his eyes and gently said, "Oz, it's fine, please trust me."

The werewolf stopped growling momentarily and looked at his imprint. The dog-like creature cocked his head slightly, staring at her. Willow radiated trust and hope before she turned to Xander and said, "Xan, they're gonna need new clothes?"

"Sure, Will, I'm on it," the Xan-man said with a shrug.

Xander sent Cordelia a look, gaining a sharp nod in response. He became a blur and was back within seconds. "Here you go, guys, it's lost property but it'll have to do for now."

_'We phase back one at a time, and we don't give the vampire any chance to attack any of us or Willow, understood?'_ Oz told his pack

_'Yes.'_

_'Yes.'_

_'Yes.'_

"Oz, you can use the, um, checkout counter, it will hide your lower half from view," Giles said, pointing to the front section of the library.

_'You first, Andrew,' _Oz commanded.

_'But I...' _Andrew replied, even if he immediately realized he had made a mistake.

_'DON'T ARGUE, just do it NOW!'_ Oz growled sharply, surprising the non-pack members; well, except Xander and Cordy.

_'Yes Alpha,'_ Andrew said meekly.

Angel, for his part, was glad Buffy couldn't see his shaking. When Oz had growled like that he had momentarily scared even his inner Angelus, who had stopped yelling obscenities at the wolves and had thought at the soul, 'Get us the 'ell out of here, boyo, as the odds are we're gonna end up dust if ya don't!'

Ignoring the demon, Angel just kept his arms out and eye contact down to a minimum. He looked away from Oz to Giles, but the Watcher was not looking at him; he was watching Buffy, who was still standing between him and the four canines. That worried Angel; he knew that if the wolves attacked, he would stand no chance either with or without the Slayer's help.

Andrew, ignorant of the vampire's inner monologue, had padded over to Giles's checkout counter, phasing when he had squeezed behind the reception desk. He morphed back to human form, the counter hiding anything below the waist. Xander handed him the smallest pair of T-shirts and pants he could find from the stash of clothes. Then Jonathan, then Warren, as those two likewise resumed human form.

The last to phase was Oz, squeezing into the largest clothes which were still tighter than they were on the other pack members. After Oz had phased the pack sat at the table again, but without turning their backs on Angel.

'Well, this looks like it's gonna be fun,' Xander wisecracked to Cordelia, seeing Buffy starting to calm down after the immediate threat to her boyfriend was over.

'Sure. But my God, how can she stand to be so near him? That smell...' Cordelia thought back, feeling repulsed.

'She can't smell what we can, remember?' Xander reminded her, as Cordelia came over to him on instinct. 'And sure, I don't like the guy, but he _has_ helped out on occasion. So take my advice and just ignore Angel as much as you can, Cor.'

'With pleasure. I can't believe now how less than a week ago, I was drooling all over him! Ugh...' Cordelia thought in disdain, her thoughts returning to Devon and how she was going to have to break up with him somehow.

Giles, ignorant of the 'conversation' between the two sparkle-pires just like everyone else, cleared his throat. "Right, now that we've gotten that out of the way, I..." he began but was interrupted by a low, rumbling growl.

"Sorry, Mr. Giles," Oz apologized, realizing he needed to calm down more. Willow immediately reached out and grabbed hold of his hand, which did the trick almost at once.

Deep down, the Watcher was not exactly pleased that someone was ready to kill Angel like this, since his Slayer had bonded with him after the Master/Prom fiasco. It wasn't that he _liked _the vampire, of course; but Buffy had obviously given him her heart and the ensouled creature had reciprocated, which meant that if Angel was dusted at the teeth and claws of these four creatures, the Chosen One would throw a fit and maybe even try to kill them for revenge. And trying to explain _that_ to the Council would be a bloody nightmare!

Knowing what Giles was thinking and still not liking that Buffy was that into a walking corpse – even though he had no grounds for complaints, right at the moment – Xander just smirked. 'It's just a matter of time, isn't it? Now that Willow's bonded with that Oz guy, he'll be constantly hanging around, which one day will lead to...'

Cordelia, confused about why the geek boy was smirking, asked him, "What's so funny, doofus?" Even if she asked so quietly that only Xander could pick it up. Not Angel, not the wolf pack, not the humans or even the Slayer had heard her.

"Just realized Angel's gonna end up dust one day soon, Cordy. I'll explain later," Xander replied, speaking just as quietly as she had.

Cordelia went back to mental communication, grabbing hold of his hand. 'You're _enjoying_ this, aren't you?'

Xander stared down at their intertwined fingers, then replied, 'So what if I am? Lemme tell you something, Cor – I realized almost right from the start that there was no way I could ever really compete with that guy for Buffy's affections. Didn't stop me from trying, sure, but I pretty much knew it was a lost battle from even before I started; Angel was the older, mysterious, handsome guy that made Buffy's heart skip a beat whenever he was around. So sue me, I hated it! And I say if he gets taken down a peg or two by the Werewolves of London club, I'm not seeing any downside here!'

'Except it won't change the way Buffy feels about him,' Cordelia pointed out, and for more than one reason.

'True enough, I guess,' Xander replied with a mental sigh.

'Once this is over and we're back to normal – you really do need to find someone else, Xander. You _know_ that, don't you? Because I'd say you're permanently stuck in the 'friend' zone as far as Buffy's concerned, and she only has eyes for Angel,' Cordelia drove her point home. 'You can smell it the same way I can, can't you? Her concern for him, her anxiety that he would end up either hurt or dust just now. And – yes, there's the lust and arousal...'

'Yeah, I can smell it,' Xander semi-growled, immediately wishing he couldn't. 'Now, let's focus back on what's happening with everyone else, shall we?'

'Fine, dorkhead,' Cordelia thought haughtily, looking annoyed.

The entire mental conversation had taken less than a second, what with the incredibly high speed of thought. No one had noticed the two vamps converse as Giles reassured Oz, "No, no, do carry on."

"Fine. Why are you here, vampire?" Oz then demanded of Angel, with a snarling tone of voice.

This caused Willow to place a hand on his arm in reassurance instantly. Taking a deep breath, calming down and looking at his pack brothers (including Andrew) who calmed when their leader did – although they had never taken their eyes of the newly arrived vampire – Oz said simply, "Whoa."

"His name is Angel, not 'vampire'," Buffy said, getting irritated at the way her boyfriend was being maligned by the alpha of the pack.

"I don't care what its name is," Oz said in a low voice, showing his teeth. "It's a threat. Unlike those two," he briefly gestured towards Xander and Cordelia. "Maybe you can't sense it, but I can; my pack and I can smell it, there's a monster in there. I'm guessing you don't feel threatened because you're lusting after this thing, instead of wanting to kill it?"

"OZ!" Willow yelped, taking her hand away in shock.

"HEY! You can't-" Buffy began to yell, but she was interrupted almost straightaway.

"That's enough, Buffy!" Giles said with a bit of Ripper in his voice. "Just calm down, d'you hear?"

"Fine," Buffy said sulkily.

"I asked you a question. Why are you here?" Oz demanded of Angel and fixing his dark eyes on the undead guy, who was now in the center of the room.

"Well, I wanted to tell Buffy that Spike's summoned the Akjin," Angel said as calmly as possible.

"Who?" Oz replied.

"Err, maybe it's best if I fill you in on that one," Giles replied, darting a look at Angel who just nodded silently.

"Okay, then, G-man; fill us in," Xander said with a smile on his white, marble-like face.

"Well, uh, the Akjin are creatures used to find those with abilities, they-they receive an order from a client and locate anyone with abilities that is a threat to said client," Giles replied, glaring at Xander for that deplorable nickname; who simply grinned back at him.

"So they're like bodyguards," Jonathan said, looking at those gathered around the table.

"Yeah. He called them in yesterday," said Angel.

"How do you know that?" Oz asked firmly, leaving no room for dissembling or lack of truth.

"Willy. He's a snitch for anyone who pays him," Angel replied frostily.

"Where is this Willy guy?" Warren asked, glaring at the vampire. He simply couldn't help it, like all the rest of the wolf pack.

"Place called Willy's Bar, it's in the demon-friendly part of town. Close to the warehouse district," Buffy spoke up.

Oz nodded to Warren and Jonathan, who then ran from the room. "We'll know soon enough whether you've told the truth," he said to Angel emotionlessly, finally starting to calm down enough to be Mr. Cool again.

"Where have they gone?" Buffy demanded, but she got no response from the alpha of the wolf pack.

Oz just said to Xander, "I know the treaty between the Quileutes and your coven doesn't exist here. But while I speak to Andrew in private, would you watch out for Willow?"

"Sure thing, pal," Xander assured him quietly.

Standing up, Oz said to the librarian, "Mr. Giles, could I borrow your office please?"

"Err, yes of course," Giles replied, figuring it would be wise to play along for now.

Thanking Giles, Oz motioned to Andrew to join him in the librarian's private office, before closing the door behind them. Buffy glared at the office door, "Gee, talk about trying to take over everything when you're not even-"

"Buffy, please don't," Willow interrupted, feeling torn between loyalty to her best friend and the emotions she was feeling now that Oz had imprinted her.

"She's right, just – grow up, Summers," Queen C said, disgusted over what she considered to be the Slayer's juvenile behavior.

"Yeah, and who asked you for _your_ opinion?" seethed the Slayer.

"Oh-so-eloquent as usual, Buffy, I guess that bleach-soaked brain of yours just can't stand not being the center of attention or something?" Cordelia replied bitingly.

"They wanted to _kill_ Angel!" Buffy shouted, looking over at her boyfriend in concern.

"Least someone around here wants to do the job you should be doing," Cordelia replied, hearing Xander stifle a barely-audible laugh.

"How dare you, you undead bitch?! One more word out of you, and I'll introduce you to Mr. Pointy!" Buffy snarled, whipping out a stake and deciding there and then that Angel over Cordelia Chase was no contest.

"BUFFY!" Giles shouted, immediately gaining his Slayer's attention, even as Angel quickly took the stake out of her hand. The ensouled vampire was shocked at the Slayer's actions; Angel had known that Buffy had fallen for him, but wanting to stake someone over a silly name-calling episode? This was obviously more serious than he'd thought.

Xander thought the same way, staring at his Slayer hero in horror. He'd known that Buffy and Cordelia didn't get along sometimes, make that most times, but threatening to stake her? Never mind that the stake would have had about as much effect on Cordelia as a slingshot or peashooter, the fact that Buffy had lost it enough to bring out a weapon meant that she had lost her objectivity BIG-TIME.

"Buffy," Giles said again. The female teen turned to him questioningly, and Giles glared at her as he had never done before. "You will cease this RIGHT NOW, do you understand? As the Slayer, it is your job to save lives, not end them; and threatening to kill a human being who is currently enspelled as a vampire is unacceptable in any way. So you will treat Cordelia as you would Angel, is that _clear_?" the Watcher demanded, again channeling Ripper for a moment.

Buffy's mouth dropped open in shock; she gaped and tried to speak, but the Slayer was stunned silent. Giles had never spoken to her like that before now. She could only stumble as Angel took her by the hand and led her up into the stacks for a private conversation.

For her part, Willow was also shocked at her best friend's behavior. Sure, she didn't like Cordelia either; in fact, the way she was getting all touchy-feely with Xander constantly caused the hairs of the back of the redhead's neck to rise. But threatening to _stake _her? Suddenly Willow was glad Xander was holding the furious-looking Cordelia tightly, otherwise – well, the hacker knew full well what Twilight-type vampires were capable of.

Buffy would have been dead meat within less than three seconds, Slayer or otherwise.

The tension was eventually broken by the reappearance of Warren and Jonathan, who did not speak but sat down to wait for their pack mates to come out of the office. Which they quickly did.

The moment Oz and Andrew did so, Xander nodded at Oz before both he and Cordelia blurred and vanished from sight. Figuring it would be best not to take her back to Giles' apartment – in her current mood, the girl would almost certainly trash the place completely – Xander took the blonde to the junkyard belonging to one of his uncles, the business he had founded after being fired from the Calax computer company.

"Let it all out, Cor," Xander told her gently, as Cordelia glared at him in unsuppressed rage. Harris gestured to the piles of junk all around them and said, "Just let it all out. I'll make sure you don't hurt yourself, but better to take it out on the junk rather than kill Buffy, okay?"

There was no coherent reply, just an animalistic growl as Cordelia Chase took his advice and started to tear the junkyard apart.

By the time morning came, there wasn't a single piece of intact junk anywhere as Xander finally took Cordelia back to the Watcher's condo. He would have preferred taking her to the local meat-packing plant, in order for them to feed on some cow blood or something...

But then, since they were both sparkling like diamonds in the sunlight by that point that would have been the baddest idea in the entire _history_ of bad ideas.

TBC...


	18. Chapter 18: The Hunt

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

'_Mental communication_'

Chapter 18 – The Hunt

It was Wednesday morning, and Andrew Wells was alone in his bedroom, even though it was a lot cleaner now than before. Rubbing his eye and wincing over his healing ribs, where Warren had punched and kicked him, he knew he would have to speak to Oz and soon. Andrew then thought back to his conversation with Oz and the patrol the previous night.

Never mind Tucker; he now had people who really were family, now and forever.

*Flashback*

Interior of Giles's private office, Tuesday night

"Sorry about earlier," Oz said to Andrew, after closing the office door and they had both sat down.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have questioned you, I guess..." Andrew replied, looking a bit nervous.

Oz held his hand up to stop Andrew saying anything more. "I don't want you to think I'm going to be saying 'Alpha Orders'. We aren't the characters in the novels.

"I just wanted you to phase first, as you're our weakest link at the moment," Oz said bluntly.

"Jac...I mean, Oz," Andrew began to say, his Seth Clearwater memories coming to the fore of his mind for a moment.

"I know you have memories of Seth, just like I have memories of Jacob. But _we're not them_. Try to remember that, but don't worry about slipping up, man. So, is there anything you want to ask me?" Oz asked.

Andrew was about to say something, before both he and Oz started hearing the Slayer yelling in the library. After hearing what Buffy had to say, Oz made a mental note to org anise a pack meeting afterwards.

"Ermm, are you going to make me stay at home and not hunt?" Andrew eventually said, after Buffy had been taken away by Angel.

"No. Figure I need your help with Willow," Oz commented.

"M-me?" Andrew stammered, stunned that he would be trusted with something to do with the alpha's imprint.

"Yep. You're in some of her classes, aren't you?"

"Yeah, well, only the one 'cause she's a junior and I'm a sophomore, but…why me?" Andrew asked curiously.

"I dunno for sure. I just know you're the best choice to protect Willow when I can't," Oz said musingly. He honestly wasn't sure why he was choosing Andrew for this, the werewolf knew that Jonathan would be a far more logical choice – and yet somehow, Oz's instincts were telling him that it was Andrew's job to do this for him. And given everything that had happened since Friday night, Oz was real big on following his instincts nowadays.

"I will defend her with my life, Alpha, I promise," Andrew said firmly and with more strength than even he had expected, satisfying Oz's theory about him.

"Good. Okay, Warren and Jonathan are back, let's get out of here," Oz said, standing with Andrew following suit. As Oz reached the door he turned to Andrew and said, "Oh and Andrew, we'll talk about your family situation – but tomorrow, not tonight."

Gulping, Andrew followed his Alpha out of the office and back to the group outside. Seeing the two werewolves had returned from Willy's bar, after Xander and Cordelia left Oz simply asked what his packmates had heard; and upon hearing confirmation from two of his own that Angel was not a clear and present danger to his pack, the meeting quickly broke up as everyone headed off for different destinations.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Miller's Woods, Sunnydale – 10pm

The beat of paws on hard ground resonated throughout the woods. Andrew ran with his pack members on both sides, and his Alpha carrying the redhead in front. He came to a halt when the Pack stopped in a glade, grabbing his clothes with his teeth from Willow, who had stored them in a backpack acquired from Lost Property. Andrew ran to change behind a tree, as Warren and Jonathan did likewise.

"Gather round," Oz said, coming out from behind his own tree shirtless but with the pants on, and instinctively putting an arm around Willow. Once the male trio had done so, he invited them all to sit on the ground. "I figure, you want to know why I asked you all here?" he said, receiving nods from the wolf pack.

"Pretty much," Andrew replied.

"Okay. Well, you all know how the La Push shape-shifters had a treaty with the Cullens," Oz said slowly.

"Yeah, we know," Warren said promptly. "And we've got two of that coven right in our midst. For now, anyway."

"They're not Emmett and Rosalie, despite appearances. I could tell, less than ten seconds after they opened their mouths. Anyway, I figure we should make some kind of formal truce with them, for as long as they're Twilight-type vampires. Maybe it'll put Cordy and that Xander guy more at ease with us; I don't want anyone starting a fight to the death with them," Oz looked around warningly at Warren, Jonathan and Andrew, who all nodded obediently.

"Will they have a boundary?" Willow asked uncertainly.

"No," Oz said, quickly reassuring her. "I was actually hoping we could enlist their aid to protect the town, get rid of all of the normal vamps and demons around here," he continued.

"Well, I dunno," Willow said uncertainly. "I mean, sure, Xander would love that, and heck – I'm also sure he and Cordelia would totally outclass anything this town could throw at them; but, but I'm kinda worried about what might happen if the word starts to spread, and everything that goes bump in the night decides to join forces to try to destroy them – and you guys as well, if you become part of the anti-Big Bad crusade. That vampire named Spike, for example, he'd be the first one to declare open warfare – and the collateral damage..."

"I see. All right, then, we hold off on starting a 'crusade'," Oz quickly smiled at Willow, who smiled back at him. "At least until we have a plan and the numbers are a lot more on our side. Agreed?"

Looking at each other, all the members of the Pack nodded. "Ermm, what about feeding?" Andrew asked.

"Non-humans or animals ONLY," Oz said firmly. He then turned to Willow. "Has Xander said or done anything which makes you think he'll go after human blood, direct from the source?"

"What? NO! Hey, Xander would _never_ attack humans! Or Cordelia. You didn't see what they were like when they had to drink pig's blood the first few times yesterday. So no way, Oz!" Willow said loudly, as she looked the guy firmly and directly in the eye.

"Sorry, Will, but I had to ask. I also wondered if you wanted to be a Pack/Coven liaison, and act as the go-between our two groups? Just a thought," Oz asked, speaking the last part to his pack and earning himself a surprised look from Willow.

"Err, I think that would good, from a tactical standpoint," Jonathan said, earning a grateful look from Oz.

"Okay," Oz said simply, before turning towards the redhead. "Willow?"

"I'll ask them," Willow nodded. "I'm pretty sure Xander will be okay with it, Cordelia...eh, maybe, maybe not. But eventually, odds are she'll follow Xander's lead."

"What's up with those two, anyway?" Andrew asked.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked, suddenly getting a bad feeling about this.

"Well, they seemed to be acting pretty couple-y in that library, at least before Warren and I left to check out that demon bar," Jonathan shrugged.

"Cordelia more than Xander, sure, but he sure didn't seem to mind her holding his hand," Warren added.

"That's _crazy_!" Willow said vehemently, indulging in immediate denial. "I mean, yeah, okay, the whole sparkle-pire thing – but Xander and Cordelia? Come on! It, it would be against all known laws of God and man! Those two have hated each other since kindergarten!"

"Didn't look like they hated each other just now to me," Andrew shook his head.

"Or me," Jonathan nodded.

"Or me," Warren added in his own two cents, causing Willow to look horrified for a moment.

"Never mind. Either way, that's none of our business." Oz stood up and looked at Warren and Jonathan – who both nodded, knowing what their Alpha was going to ask. "Andrew, would you stand up please?" he asked the youngest werewolf present.

Andrew stood and faced Oz who looked him in the eye. 'Why does he want me to stand, what have I done wrong?' Wells thought frantically, looking around at the others

"Andrew, would you be the pack's Beta?" Oz asked simply.

Andrew's jaw dropped and he looked around at his new packmates. Looking stunned he replied, "You want me as your Beta?!"

'Why ME, I'm nobody,' Wells thought, still completely stunned.

"Yeah. And you're not nobody," Oz said, placing a hand on Andrew's shoulder. "All those in favor, say aye," the Alpha demanded, looking around.

"Aye," Jonathan and Warren said without hesitation.

Andrew, for his part, still could not believe HE was chosen as the pack Beta. The werewolf pack then sat in silence, basking in each other's presence until Oz's cell phone rang and he said it was Giles, before disconnecting and putting the phone back into his jeans. Personally, Oz was glad it had not smashed when he had phased earlier.

"Guys, I'm going to take Willow home," Oz declared, looking at Willow who nodded and yawned a little.

"You guys wanna take High Hill? Apparently, Buffy covers Wilkins Memorial, Weatherly and Hammersmith," Oz said, referring to the various Sunnydale parks which Buffy patrolled for vampires.

"We could split up afterwards. One of us takes the beach, one of us checks out UC Sunnydale, and the other one hits the Bronze," Andrew said thoughtfully.

Nodding at Andrew, the Alpha agreed. "Make sure you're not seen, though."

The Pack disappeared behind the nearby trees and phased. Willow was helped onto Oz's back by Andrew before he too phased into the huge wolf he truly was. As his pack headed for their destination, Oz for the Rosenberg residence.

He figured it was time he introduced himself to Willow's parents.

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Andrew ran alongside his pack within the park, his thoughts a flurry; Wells was still wondering why the Alpha has chosen him as Beta.

His frantic thoughts were broken by Warren, who thought at him, _'Relax dude, if Oz chose you for the job, then you can do it. Not saying I wouldn't have minded being the second-in-command myself, of course, but he's the boss and I'm sure the guy knows what he's doing.'_

_'But I'm nobody, Warren, I get beaten up every day at school! I can't even protect myself,' _Andrew thought back at him, keeping his thoughts away from home.

_'Well, you're not the only one, I get beaten up by the jocks too,' _Jonathan confessed.

_'That was then, but this is now. We're not who we were any longer. Remember? We're bigger. Faster. Stronger. Trust me, all that's gonna change,'_ Warren reassured his packmates.

Both werewolves nipped his flanks, gently huffing at him.

_'And seriously, Oz wouldn't have asked you to do the job if he didn't think you could do it,'_ Warren projected loyally to his packmate.

_'Yeah, Andrew, he asked us and we agreed,'_ Jonathan added. _'So just do it.'_

_'Okay guys, ermm, I'll be the best Beta I can,' _Andrew thought, reassuring himself as much as his pack.

The three wolves quickly left the park. Nearing the Bronze and staying to the shadows, they were just about to split up and head for their individual destinations – when a smell suddenly hit their sensitive noses. A smell of death, dust and blood. Running faster than humans could see if they had been around, Andrew and the others headed straight towards the smell and all of them were glad that no one was around.

Because entering a dark alley, the Trio found three vampires with one wounded human female. Entering the alley the wolf began to growl, making the vamps look around in surprise.

"Aww, lookie here Earl, big doggies!" the first vampire said, chuckling.

_'Oh yeah, I'll give you big doggies,'_ Andrew thought, hearing his packmates laughing internally.

Rushing forward, Andrew bit the vamp's head off, immediately dusting the Southerner, much to the amazement of the other undead.

_'Ewww, remind me never to do that again! I feel like I just swallowed a dust bunny, urrgh...' _Andrew thought, earning more laughter from the others as they headed for the two remaining vampires.

"What the hell are those things, Earl?!" the second vampire said nervously, letting go of the girl and backing up.

Looking unconcerned, Earl faced the wolf pack; thanks to having been turned in the 1960s, like most evenings he was sky high on drugs and totally unafraid. Unlike the newbie. "They're just dogs, we can take 'em! Come on!" Earl said, charging forward.

Warren met his headlong charge by barreling into the vamp and clawing through his chest and ripping into his unbeating heart. Earl had just enough time to say, "Oh shit..." before dusting.

The last vamp tried to run, only to be chased and dispatched like Earl had been by Jonathan. The whole thing had taken less than a minute from start to finish.

_'And that's how you deal with vamps, Beta,'_ Warren projected, snickering slightly.

_'Yeah. Thanks, I couldn't remember how I took them out on Halloween, some of it's a blur...'_ Andrew replied, putting the unconscious girl on Jonathan's back where she slumped over slightly.

_'Me too, and I figure it's better that way after watching you nearly choke on dust,'_ Warren said, laughing again.

_'Yeah, okay, funny ha-ha. Jonathan, take her to the hospital please, don't be seen though,'_ Andrew thought at his packmate, sticking his long tongue out at Warren.

_'Don't worry, I'll leave her at the entrance and bark so they come out or something,'_ Jonathan promised, setting off carefully towards Sunnydale General Hospital.

After he left, the two other pack members split up and headed off towards their patrol zone, staying in the shadows where they could. After half an hour and five more undead dealt with and no more casualties, Andrew was joined once again by Jonathan and Warren and Oz. Eventually the Alpha decided to call it a night at 3 am, avoiding the Slayer who was leaving a cemetery after dispatching fifteen vamps herself.

*End of flashback*

Hearing the front door shut as the training session ended and Warren left, Andrew got dressed and left for school. Arriving at the high school, he bumped into a young man he didn't know. The young man had black hair and brown eyes and somehow looked new to Sunnydale.

'Why does he smell so weird?' Andrew thought to himself, looking back at the boy and making a note to talk to Oz about it. Walking the hallway, Wells was brought back to reality with a hard shove into a locker. Looking up at a grinning Larry Blaisdell, who raised a fist and began to bring it towards his face, Andrew thought, 'Oh man, he's gonna kill me!'

Suddenly, though, that fist was grabbed in mid-thrust by a very angry but emotionless-looking Alpha. Larry could only look up in confusion as the person who had grabbed his fist was a head taller than him. Larry was not the brightest bulb in the box as he recognized Oz and said, "What the hell?"

"Andrew's off-limits to you from now on, Larry," Oz said, growling slightly and grateful that most of the other students weren't here yet.

"Oh yeah, and what makes ya think...arghh!" Larry said, the last part morphing into a scream as Oz put pressure on his clenched fist.

"Understood?" Oz asked calmly.

"Yeah, yeah man, understood," Larry whimpered.

"Good. Now get gone," Oz said, leaving the threat hanging.

After he released the jock's hand, Larry promptly ran away, metaphorical tail between his legs with a hateful look at Andrew and a terrified look in the Alpha's direction. Taking a calming breath and looking at the mostly empty corridor, Oz told the jumpy-looking Andrew, "Watch out for him. If I know Larry, it'll take a couple of times for him to get the message; and the next time, he won't be alone."

"Yeah, I...I get it, Oz, I...I need to stick up for myself," Andrew said, trembling slightly.

"That you do. Just don't lose it and kill him in public," Oz said warningly. Putting an arm around his Beta's shoulders they walked towards the library he added, "I figure it'll take a while, but you'll get there eventually."

"Will I?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah. Besides, the pack members back each other up."

"I believe you. Still, maybe I can take self-defense lessons from Mr. Giles or something," Andrew mused, walking alongside his Alpha.

"Maybe." Entering the library, both teens headed for the privacy of the stacks, noticing that Giles has cleaned up last night's mess. Which was all for the best. "You remember what I said yesterday?" Oz said, looking at Andrew – who gulped.

"Yeah."

"I know you have a brother, but I'm not sure who looks after you. So spill."

"Ermm, well, my parents are gone. My aunt comes to our house occasionally, but it's mainly my brother Tucker. Uh, I should mention I semi-accidentally attacked him the day after I phased back, and now he wants nothing to do with me. It's kinda why I went to Mr Giles for help."

"Why'd you attack him?" Oz asked, knowing there had to be a reason. For the newbies, the wolf acted on instinct, and so attacking one's own brother shouldn't have happened. Unless...

"He…uh, Tucker got pissed off and was about to beat me up," Andrew said, looking at the bookshelf in shame.

Oz grabbed Andrew by the shoulder and forced him to look at the Alpha. "I want you to pack your stuff after school, you're coming to live with me," the young man said firmly.

"What?" Andrew looked completely freaked.

"I live alone, so there's plenty of room," Oz said, making a mental note to have a talk with the eldest Wells brother TODAY. "As soon as school's over for the day, you are out of that house."

'Wow.' Taking a deep breath, Andrew said, "Oz, there's something else; for a couple of months now, Tucker's been talking about raising hellhounds. I don't know whether he actually will or not, but yesterday – he said he would summon one and let it feed on me first, he was that pissed," Wells confessed, looking scared.

"Not gonna happen," Oz said simply, resuming the terse act. "You're pack. You're family. And like I said, we look out for each other."

Oz and Andrew then headed back for the main area of the library. They encountered Giles along the way, who asked in concern, "Ah, are you alright, Mr. Wells?"

"I'm fine," Andrew nodded, trying to stand up tall. Trying to be worthy of the trust his Alpha had placed in him. "Sorry about what happened with that Buffy girl last night, Mr. Giles."

"That's alright, uh, given the circumstances. I've spoken with Buffy, and Angel seems to have calmed her down," Giles said, briefly shuddering at the thought of an angry Slayer on the warpath.

The guitarist-turned-werewolf looked at Andrew, who nodded. "Actually, Mr. Giles, we need to talk to you about something else," the Beta of the pack spoke hesitantly.

Placing his briefcase of the table, Giles sat down as Andrew started to talk. Wells told him all about Tucker's foray into dark magic, how he'd threatened to summon hellhounds and set them on his younger brother. Andrew mentioned that he didn't know _why_ Tucker wanted to raise hellhounds, but he knew that his brother had to have something planned for them.

Giles looked concerned, and promised he'd look into it. But the trio's conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Willow, Buffy and the boy Andrew had bumped into earlier.

Oz looked at Andrew, who nodded; they could both smell it. Putting that aside for a moment, though, Oz gave Willow a deep hug, who returned it with vigorous enthusiasm. The Rosenberg girl had done a lot of thinking after the werewolf had taken her home last night. Namely, that it was time she stopped waiting for Xander to notice how she was a girl, instead of just his Willow-shaped best friend; to seize the day and start looking at other fish in the sea. Which definitely included Oz.

"Giles, I want you to meet Ford; we used to attend Hemery High together. He transferred in today," Buffy said, grinning in delight and standing next to the strange-smelling older boy.

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Standing on the Sunnydale beach and staring out at the night-time ocean, Cordelia Chase wasn't happy.

For one thing, she couldn't go home, as she didn't look like herself. She couldn't go shopping at the mall, as she had no money or credit cards; and she would sparkle like crazy during the daylight hours anyway. She couldn't spend time with her friends, as the sheep wouldn't even recognize her if she approached them. But the worst part of all was...

"Hey, Cordy," Xander said, appearing out of nowhere and joining her at the beach.

"What are you doing here, dork?" Cordelia scowled at him.

"Looking for you," Xander said, standing next to the blonde vampiress.

"Well, I don't want company right now," Cordy said, glaring at him. "So why don't you just go home to Giles's place?"

"Yeah, uh, I figure the G-man kinda needs some alone time," Xander shrugged, coming closer. "We've been living in his apartment for the last three days, after all. One-bedroom bachelor pad, he must be feeling more than a bit crowded by now. Besides, there's not exactly much keeping us there any longer; not now that we've exhausted just about every book and scroll and whatever that he has, I mean."

"Yeah," Cordy said, grimacing. "Which has yielded a whole big pile of nothing. Let's face it; for now at least, we're stuck like this!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Xander sighed. "No point in pretending, at least not amongst ourselves. So, we need to talk."

"About what?" Cordelia demanded, frowning.

Xander shrugged and told her how he was planning to get his own place, a basement apartment like Angel. That he was planning to start mugging the local vampires for whatever cash and valuables they had in order to afford the rent, and pay for his own blood. "We've been mooching off Giles long enough, and it's time to leave the nest, so to speak. Look, I don't know what you're planning to do-"

"We should move in together," Cordy said, cutting him off and making a snap decision. "You promised me that you'd watch my back if I watched yours, remember? Well, it'd be a lot easier to do that if we share the same accommodations."

"YOU actually want to live with ME?" Xander said, looking shocked before he started grinning at the blonde girl.

"Just until everything goes back to normal," Cordelia said, looking annoyed. "And don't you even _think_ about getting ideas concerning us living together, understand? You may be a lot more tolerable to me nowadays, but just one wrong move – and I'll rip it off and shove it up your ass!"

"I promise I'll be a perfect gentleman," Xander said, still grinning in amusement and not looking the least bit worried about the threat to his penis.

"Good," Cordelia said, staring at her soon-to-be roommate. "Well, I guess that's the good part of no longer needing sleep; I don't have to worry about you trying to sneak into my bedroom or whatever..."

"Would I do something like that?" Xander asked playfully.

"What, seriously? C'mon, Xander – are you telling me that if I gave you _any_ encouragement, even the tiniest hint, you'd actually say no?" Cordelia demanded, seeing Xander's grin immediately vanish. "I think we both remember a certain incident where you embarrassed yourself in public, mister. So just watch it!"

"Yeah," Xander said, looking down and recalling just how he had felt when Cordelia had been straddling his lap on the floor back then. "Don't worry, I will. As far as I'm concerned, you'll be just another piece of the furniture." He then blurred and vanished.

'Oh, damn it,' Cordelia cursed to herself, suddenly wishing she could take some of that back. Because she did _not_ want to be treated like 'part of the furniture'; over the past three days, Xander had treated her like...like one of his girls. Like Buffy, or Willow. Ever since they'd encountered one another as Twilight-type vampires within that damned library, they had...connected. And despite herself, Cordelia knew that she didn't want things between her and the doofus to go back to the way they had been last week.

Xander Harris had started to get under her skin lately. And maybe it was just leftovers from Rosalie's memories of Emmett, but Cordelia had the sneaking suspicion that the big goof simply wouldn't be that easy to kick out of her heart and mind, even if everything magically went back to normal tomorrow...

TBC...


	19. Chapter 19: Suspiscious Minds Part 1

Chapter 19 – Suspicious Minds, Part 1

Sunnydale High Library – 8:30 am, Thursday

"Hey," Ford (also known as Billy Fordham) said, looking at the other teens.

"Hi," the werewolves replied, both thinking about the odd smell coming from the newcomer.

"New, huh?" Oz then said laconically.

"Yeah, my dad got a transfer," replied the new boy.

"Come on, Ford, lemme show you the school," Buffy said happily, tugging on his arm and leading him out of the library.

Willow kissed Oz's cheek shyly and left the library, blushing madly. Oz just smiled a soft Mona Lisa smile as she left. But as soon as the doors swung closed he turned to Giles and said seriously, "Problem."

"What, err, seems to be the problem?" Giles asked worriedly, taking in both boys' seriousness.

"Ermm...the new guy smells funny," Andrew replied.

"Funny? In what way?"

"Not sure, thought you might know why someone would smell – off," Oz replied.

"Well, it could be any number of things. But if Buffy's, um, Slayer-sense wasn't warning her of danger, well, then-" Giles started to say.

Oz cut him off at once. "No offense, Mr. Giles, but that's not good enough."

"He's right! Your Slayer lets a bloodsucker run around unchecked, you know. Sure, he's supposed to be a good guy – but how do we actually know that?" Andrew said.

Oz looked at his Beta and raised an eyebrow, glad that Andrew's confidence was increasing. Oz then said to Giles, "We'll leave it with you, Mr. Giles, just thought you ought to know; that's all."

Nodding, the Watcher waited for the boys to leave for their first period and went to the book cage. Sighing and upset with the Pack's lack of trust in both Angel and Buffy, he began researching human-looking demons.

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Sitting in the common area of the student lounge, Willow and Buffy were talking with Ford about growing up in Los Angeles.

"So Buffy, what did you and Ford used to get up to?" Willow asked curiously.

"Well, you know, she was a cheerleader, I was just someone she hung around with when she was bored," Ford said flippantly.

Slapping him lightly and mindful of Slayer strength, Buffy replied, "As if. You know you hung around me 'cause I was an awesome cheerleader!"

"Yeah, right, Summers," he scoffed jokingly.

Giving him a mock glare, Buffy folded her arms. Giving her that grin when he knew he was going to be in trouble, Ford abruptly turned to Willow. "Actually, Summers here had a crush on me in fifth grade."

"Hey!" Buffy cried out indignantly.

"And since I was a manly sixth grader, I wouldn't give her the time of day," Ford said, grinning widely.

"Well, yeah, true," Buffy admitted.

"Really?" Willow said, wanting to feel included but feeling a little left out and realizing she missed Xander being there.

"Yeah, I used to go home and listen to that song 'I Touch Myself', not that I knew what that meant," Buffy said, looking mortified over what she had just said.

"Really Summers, didn't know you had it in you," Ford replied, smirking.

"Eww, Ford!" Buffy yelped, covering her face in her hands.

All three started laughing at that. Then Willow reflected once again on Xander not being here, and admitted to herself that she was really missing her Xander-shaped friend a lot.

'Gotta do something about that,' Willow thought mournfully. So making her excuses she slipped away before the bell rang, wanting to get to her next class and think a bit. On the way she bumped into Oz, who was also going to class after having separated from Andrew. Giving her a quick hug, he asked if he she was alright.

"I'm okay, just – missing Xander," Willow replied sadly.

"Maybe you can go visit after school," Oz replied sagely.

"Yeah. I think he'd like that, and it would be good," Willow babbled, immediately cheered by the thought of visiting her oldest friend.

Smiling and brushing her cheek with his hand, Oz left as the bell rang. Willow watched him leave, feeling the same feeling she'd felt the night before. 'I like this feeling, and Oz is right, I WILL visit Xander later,' she thought, smiling and floating off to her next class, buoyed by the words of comfort.

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Giles' Condo – 4:00 pm, Thursday

Xander sat alone in Rupert's study, one hand resting on his raised knee as he had been since retreating here this morning.

Last night, he had been hurt by how Cordelia had acted when he had joked about them moving into an apartment together. Xander was glad in one sense how she was starting to act normal again, how Cordelia was able to let fly with the insults once more. But did she really think them living together for a while, was just a ploy for him to get into her panties? Being reminded of how she had felt his erection while straddling his lap had cut deep, further than he'd anticipated possible.

'Guess I can't blame her, not really,' Xander thought mournfully. 'She's not my girlfriend, after all. Ah well, hopefully when things go back to normal...'

Torn away from his musings by a knock at the door, and knowing it was Cordelia due to the lack of heartbeat, Xander called out, "What is it, Cor?"

"Xander, will you unlock the damn door and please let me in?" Queen C demanded.

"Why?" spoke Xander gruffly.

"We need to talk," came the guilty-sounding reply.

Shrugging, standing up and opening the door, Xander saw a flustered Cordelia standing outside. "Talk about what?"

"Look, Gee…I mean, Xander," she paused.

"Yeah?" Xander said, not in the mood for niceties.

"What I said to you at the beach last night was majorly out of line. Okay? I shouldn't have embarrassed you like that," Cordelia said, looking annoyed for having to apologize.

"And?" Harris demanded.

"Ugghh! Fine, moving in together would be a good idea, I'm so sorry Xander and you've been so nice to me lately! Satisfied?" Cordelia replied angrily.

Sighing Xander stepped out of the study he looked her in her eyes and responded, "I dunno. It's just – I dunno, Cordy. I mean, maybe it's not such a good idea if there's a risk we'll end up killing each other-"

"No! No way, never gonna happen. Seriously, I think it's a great idea, all things considered," Cordelia hurried to reassure him. "For now, we need each other. So as soon as it's sunset, we'll go out apartment hunting and try to raise some money for ourselves. Okay?"

"Okay," Xander shrugged.

"Good," Cordelia said, not knowing Xander was thinking about how he was going to have to pay a visit to Willy the snitch to ask about where the best place for a vampire to get an apartment was. As they went downstairs, though, Cordy was reminded of the surprise she'd gotten in the library recently.

"Hey Xander, can I ask you something?" Cordelia said.

"Sure, Cordy, what?" Xander replied.

"How could you hear what I was thinking, and mind-talk to me yesterday?" she asked.

"Well, ermm…I didn't want to mention anything because I was afraid you would... that you wouldn't want to be around me. So please don't tell the others," Xander pleaded. "It's just an ability I've discovered I have, ever since I woke a vamp on Monday. That's all."

"Could you do it all the time?" she asked curiously.

"I guess, yeah. But I won't in order to give people privacy, and I can only talk to people mentally if I concentrate," Xander said, swallowing nervously.

"I won't tell anyone," Cordelia reassured the visibly upset Xander.

"Good. It was kinda fun though, wasn't it?" he said, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, I guess," Cordelia replied, her grin putting Xander at ease. "It could come in handy one day, too."

Thinking about what she had said, Xander paused and cautiously replied, "Maybe we should tell Oz and his Pack, like you said it could come in handy."

"If you're sure. I mean, if you trust those guys enough," Cordelia said softly.

Getting their regular dose of pig blood, the duo sat on the couch and discussed ways of how mental communications could come in handy. They talked and occasionally laughed, bonding until they heard Giles's car pull up outside on the street.

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The Bronze – 8:00 pm, Thursday

The apartment hunting thing had been a bust so far tonight; apparently, there was a huge unofficial waiting list and unless they were willing to forcibly evict someone from a two-room basement apartment, it looked like Xander and Cordy would have to spend a few more nights at Giles's place. The 'mugging' of soulless vampires and demons had been a lot more successful, though; the two sparkle-pires now had some much-needed moolah in their pockets. Anyway, the loud music emanating from the nightclub greeted Xander and Cordelia as they entered the Bronze. Seeing Angel talking with Willow, and hearing them mention Buffy, brought annoyance to the fore of Xander's mind.

'Why did Giles give Buffy the night off to spend it with Angel, and where the hell is Buffy anyway?' Xander thought furiously.

'Thought you told me to ignore him,' Cordelia mentally replied.

'Yeah, I know,' Xander thought, gritting his teeth. 'But still, sometimes I can't follow my own advice, ya know?'

'I know you don't trust him, but Giles does, and that should mean something to you,' Cordelia projected, giving him a meaningful glance.

Sighing, Xander replied, 'You're right, Cor. And it does, but like I said the other night, he'll be dust one day soon. I'm sure of it, for some reason.'

Cordelia said nothing, she just wondered if he was right. Willow saw them and waved them over; both vampires headed over with Xander gnashing his teeth, although this stopped when Cordelia elbowed him at vamp speed. Neither Angel nor Willow saw it through the crowd.

"There she is," Xander said, spotting Buffy entering the Bronze with a boy at her side.

"That must be Ford, that guy Giles mentioned," Cordelia said, automatically checking out the boy's clothing.

"Doesn't she know any fat friends?" Xander replied, slightly annoyed.

"Jealous much?' Cordelia thought at him cattily.

'Well, maybe a little. But he STINKS! Admit it, Cordy. Besides, Buffy's still my friend and we don't what he is; and I saw you checking out his clothes,' Xander projected back.

'Yeah, doofus, I agree with you there; he REEKS, so much so it's a wonder Angel can't smell it too. And what can I say about his clothes, the guy has no taste,' Cordelia thought in annoyance.

'Just don't let the others hear you say that,' Xander warned her.

"Hi, Xander," Buffy greeted him as soon as she and Ford were within distance.

"Hey, Buff, and you must be Ford," Xander replied, looking at Fordham suspiciously.

"Yeah," Ford replied, holding his hand out to the Emmett Cullen lookalike. Fortunately, Billy was not a Twilight fan, even though he had recently become a vampire fanatic, and so there was no suspicion that a couple of movie stars were slumming it here on the Hellmouth or whatever.

Xander shook Ford's hand. "Xander." He winced at having to give his real name, but there was no point in doing otherwise since Buffy had already let that cat out of the bag.

"Whoa, cold hands," Ford said, surprised. He let go and started rubbing his hands together.

"Yeah, sorry, it's a condition," Xander replied, wondering what Ford could be. He smelled human, but there was definitely something off about him.

Cordelia waved and nudged Xander. "Hi, I'm Cordelia. And sorry, but we gotta go."

"Yeah, we got stuff to do," Xander said, giving Buffy and Angel a meaningful look.

Buffy replied simply, "Giles said it was okay if I give my extra tutoring a miss tonight."

'Yeah, and that means I'm gonna have to cover for you and your boyfriend.' Sighing, Xander left with Cordelia to patrol around the Bronze for a while. After half an hour Willow went home, escorted by Angel. Buffy and Ford left the Bronze by themselves to tour the town, but that was when Buffy heard a noise around the corner. A very familiar type of noise.

"I think I left my purse inside the club, can you go get it for me?" the Slayer asked her childhood friend desperately.

"Sure," Ford replied with a quick nod.

The Slayer waited until he gone back and then shot around the corner. Ford came out of the entrance a few seconds later, but WITHOUT a purse. Creeping around the corner, he saw Buffy doing kicks and punches that were inhumanly fast and strong, in the act of dusting a vampire.

'So I was right when I saw her and Pike at the gym back at Hemery. Huh, I can use this,' Ford thought as he began to plot his evil scheme.

Unaware of her childhood friend's thoughts, Buffy turned after dusting the vampire to see him peeking around the corner. "Err, it was...cats," Buffy said anxiously, wondering how much he'd just seen.

"Nah, it was a vampire," Ford replied, trying to seem blasé. "And I just remembered, you didn't have a purse with you tonight."

Stunned, Buffy could only walk with him past the Bronze. The silence grew until Ford spoke, "Summers, I've known you're the Slayer since you were at Hemery High, ya know."

"Why didn't you ever say something?" Buffy replied, shock gradually turning into joy that she didn't have to hide the truth about herself from her former crush.

"Well, I kinda thought you might kick my ass or whatever," Ford said with a slight chuckle.

This made Buffy burst out laughing. "So Mr. Giles isn't your tutor, is he?" Ford then asked.

"No, he's my Watcher," Buffy replied, putting her arm through his.

"Ahh, right, I thought as much. 'Cause you didn't mention being tutored until that Xander guy gave you that look."

"Yeah, well, I needed to say something. Besides, he seemed kinda pissy about how I'm taking a night off," she replied.

"A night off, huh?"

"Yeah, so let me show you Sunnydale, give you the fifty cent tour," Buffy replied, leading him off in the general direction of the high school.

An hour later, they were at Sunnydale High. "Well, that's Sunnydale," Buffy said with a flourish.

For grinned but then he stopped as he spotted two figures running towards the high school. "Vampires?" he asked, already knowing the answer and hoping he would have a chance to do what he HAD to do.

"Yeah, must be the weather," Buffy said distractedly, handing him a cross and a stake.

They ran up the steps and Buffy kicked one to the floor, rugby tackling the other. Rushing quickly to pin the female vampire down with his cross as Buffy and the other vamp fought, Ford hovered above the demonic-looking blonde; stake aimed at her undead heart.

'Maybe this will be my way to living forever,' he thought frantically. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll let you live," Ford told the vampire simply.

When she had told him what he needed to know, the dying young man with a head full of tumors let her go. Hearing Buffy returning, Ford began to have a fake coughing fit; and when she asked what had happened to the female vampire, he replied, "I killed her."

Surprisingly, Buffy seemed to believe him despite how there was no tell-tale pile of dust anywhere, and they set off away from the school.

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Willow's Home – 10:00 pm

Hearing a knocking at her window, Willow turned to see Angel standing on the patio. "Angel?"

"Can I come in, Willow?" the vampire asked politely.

"Well, I'm not supposed to have boys in my room but – okay," she replied cautiously.

Upon entering Angel said, "I need you to look someone up for me."

"Who?" Willow asked him, but already opening up a new browser on her machine.

"Buffy's friend, Billy Fordham."

"Uh..." Willow said uncertainly. The she shrugged. "Okay. But why?"

"Because I know people. And there's something's off about him,"

"Angel if ask you something promise not to bite me" said Willow nervously.

"I won't bite you, 100 years living with guilty and honing your brooding skills kinda puts off not biting people trust me" Angel told her bluntly, and that was enough for the hacker to start her search.

Suddenly Angel turned around, smelling a wolf. Sure enough, Oz was standing in Willow's room. 'How did you get in here without me hearing you?' Angel thought in astonishment.

As soon as she saw the tall guitarist, Willow stood up. "Oz?"

"Hey. You okay?" Oz asked calmly, eyes firmly on Angel.

"I'm fine, Oz, but what are you doing here?" Willow asked. "And how did you get in? You, you didn't knock or anything..."

"I have to go. Willow, if you find anything on this Fordham guy, tell me about it tomorrow night about the Bronze," the walking corpse said, quickly vanishing out the window. The unfriendly look from the werewolf was enough to convince Angel it would be best not to stick around here any longer.

When the vampire had gone, Oz turned to Willow. "I smelt him as I was passing your house. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Willow rolled her eyes in annoyance. The overprotective act was kinda cute, though, so she couldn't really get mad. Oz looked her over for any injuries or even the slightest scratch. Reassuring him, Willow nodded and began to explain why Angel had come here, how he was suspicious of Ford.

"Okay, I'll follow this up; maybe get Xander and Cordelia to help me. But please, promise that you won't ever be alone with that guy again," Oz pleaded with his imprint, desperate for her to understand.

"Why? Angel's my friend!" Willow demanded. "Not to mention Buffy's sorta-boyfriend!"

"He's a vampire," Oz shook his head. "And not the Twilight-type vampire that I don't have a problem with, either. Trust me; there's a _monster_ in there. So don't let the handsome exterior fool you into thinking that creature is something he's not; if you could only smell what I do, you wouldn't let him come within fifty yards of you," Oz said, in what had to be his longest speech all week. If not all year.

'And if he ever touches you, he'll be dust in the wind,' Oz vowed silently.

"Oz, we need to get something straight right now. And that is, you do _not_ tell me who I can and can't be alone with," Willow said stubbornly, bringing out her Resolve Face.

"But I-"

"No buts, mister!" she cut him off. "I don't care if you don't trust him. Angel's my friend, and I _will _be seeing him again tomorrow night. And if you don't like it, tough!"

It was obvious Oz _didn't _like that, but there was nothing he could do but nod and acquiesce to Willow's desires. After all, he didn't want a mindless slave to his every wish, even if the werewolf knew that his imprint maintaining a friendship with a vampire like that was a big mistake. He just waited until Willow printed out her research on Ford and gave to him, before Oz kissed her on the cheek and departed.

Getting into bed after he mother called out to her from downstairs, Willow had fitful dreams that night.

TBC...


	20. Chapter 20: Suspiscious Minds Part 2

A/N: Here you go, part 2 of my version of "Lie To Me".

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 20 – Suspicious Minds, Part 2

Oz phased as soon as he was within the shadows. He quickly made his way to the Watcher's building, knowing by smell which apartment belonged to Giles. Dropping the backpack out of his jaws, Oz phased again before changing into his off-cut jeans.

Before he could reach the front door, though, it was opened by Xander who invited him in. Oz saw Cordelia on the couch and, not seeing Giles anywhere, he said, "Hi, thanks for letting me in."

"No problem," Xander said.

"Where's Giles?"

"He's out, do… I mean, Oz," Cordelia said, almost blushing over what she had almost said.

"It's okay, one of the pack members slipped into his other memories last night," Oz reassured the girl, knowing from his Jacob memories what it was she'd nearly said. Rosalie and Jacob had never really gotten along until Bella's pregnancy had entered the scene, after all

"What's up, wolf man?" Xander asked.

Taking a deep breath, Oz told them what had occurred at Willow's with regard to Angel. Straightaway, Xander slammed his fist into the wall in red-hot anger.

"What the hell was she thinking?!" Xander shouted, looking enraged. "Willow actually invited that guy inside her house? Into her _bedroom_? Damn it, was she freaking _insane_or what...Angel...that damned undead fucker, I'm going to kill that fucker" shouted Xander full of rage.

Cordelia saw that Xander was going to explode and knowing that words wouldn't work, she calmly walked over and slapped him in the face with sheer brute strength. "Damn it, Geekboy, snap out of it!" Cordy shouted.

Xander's head snapped around, surprising Oz that the male teen's cranium didn't just come right off from the force of the blow. 'Must have hurt, sparkle-pire or otherwise.'

Rubbing his cheek, Xander broke out of his brief angry stupor. "Thanks, Cor, hopefully you didn't enjoy that too much," he said sardonically.

"Oh, no; I did enjoy that too much, and you're a freaking idiot," Cordelia said bluntly, sitting back down. "What were you thinking, dweeb, that you _own_ Willow or something? That she _has_ to do whatever you think she ought to do? God damn it, Xander, that sort of chauvinistic _crap_ went out of style along with go-go boots, and experimenting with LSD! In case you didn't get the memo, these days, women are allowed to do whatever the hell they want to do! I'm not saying I _approve _of what Willow did, of course, but it's the principle of the thing! So get your head out of your ass, understood? Or I'll tell Willow what you just said, and let _her_ deal with you!"

Glaring at the blonde, which had not the slightest effect upon the one and only Cordelia Chase, Xander turned to a bemused Oz. "Thanks for telling me."

"Just thought you ought to know," the werewolf said calmly.

"Anyway. You didn't come here just to discuss Angel, did you?" Cordelia asked Oz, from where she was examining her nails.

"Gee, Cor, perceptive much?" Xander said sarcastically. Getting a glare himself, he simply glared back at the cheerleader.

"Children," Oz said mildly, gaining their attention and raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, man, go ahead," Xander urged him.

"The leech…no offense," Oz said with an apologetic smile.

"None taken," both vampires replied in unison.

"Apparently, he asked Will to dig up stuff on Buffy's friend. That Ford guy," Oz said coolly.

"Do you have the research?" Cordelia asked.

"Yeah." Taking the piece of paper out of the backpack, Oz showed it to them.

"The Sunset Club. Is that all?" asked a confused Cordelia.

"Yeah, I mean, there should also be transfer records, Wills said he transferred from Buffy's old high school," Xander said suspiciously.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Oz replied.

"So if this guy has no transfer records, only a link to this Sunset Club, what's he up to?" Xander said, now even more suspicious.

"I meant to ask; did you notice that he reeks? Not like a vampire, but still?" Oz asked, looking at both vamps.

"Yeah, we noticed that," Cordelia spoke up.

"Okay, that's it. This guy is up to something," Xander said, looking annoyed.

"You two wanna come have a look at this Sunset Club?" Oz asked.

"US?" Cordelia demanded, looking shocked.

"Well, I thought you were the best people to ask," Oz said gently.

Looking at Xander, who just shrugged, Cordelia sighed and asked, "Will your pack be there?"

"No, Cordelia, just me," Oz reassured her quickly.

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Outside the Sunset Club – 1:00 am, Friday

Entering the alley leading to the Sunset Club, all three noticed a smell recognizable as Ford's and heard music from behind a steel door. Looking quickly at each and blending into the shadows, they waited. Before long the steel door opened, and out came Ford. With a low growl, Xander and Oz focused on the boy. Cordelia wrinkled her nose and just looked disgusted.

As soon as Ford had gone, they went to the door and Xander knocked as lightly as he could. Eyes peeked out from a slit in the door and asked who they were.

"We're friends of Ford's," Xander said, even though he was being a blatant liar.

The person on the other side opened the door and they stepped inside. Leaving the reception area, Oz, Xander and Cordelia entered a corridor.

"Why did me saying that leave a bad taste in my mouth?" Harris asked, looking at the other two teens.

Cordelia just rolled her eyes and Oz said nothing, being Mr. Ice Cool as usual. They walked down the corridor and entered a basement. Straightaway they noticed all the people present were dressed as vampires from the movies or TV.

Turning to Xander and Oz, Cordy said mockingly, "Boy. We fit right in, huh?"

Xander snorted with laughter as Oz just said, "Mind if we look around?"

Both vampires agreed and went downstairs. Mingling and talking to random people, they were eventually approached by a blonde girl in a red corset and tight skirt.

"Welcome. Are you new?" she cooed at Xander, earning herself a jealous glare from Cordelia.

"Yeah, um, we know a guy who comes here," Xander said cautiously. He wasn't used to women openly flirting with him like this, given he still wasn't used to his new Emmett Cullen face and body.

"Ah, he told you that we revere the cold ones," the girl, whose name was Chantarelle, said with a beaming smile.

Cordelia snorted loudly, earning her the girl's attention. "There's no need to laugh at something you don't understand," Chantarelle said, her smile now fading.

"You revere vampires," Oz said with a hint of disgust in his voice, stepping into the girl's personal space after his Jacob memories came to the fore of his mind.

Putting a hand on Oz's shoulder and grateful the wolf didn't shrug it off, Xander gently pulled him back. Seeing the girl frown, Xander said, "Cold ones, huh?"

"They are misunderstood and wonderful creatures of the night," Chantarelle said, smiling at him.

'Idiotic vampire wannabes! Ugh, if only they knew; I can't believe this stupid bitch is just begging to get herself turned into a monster!' Cordelia thought at Xander viciously, her Rosalie memories surfacing for a moment.

'Easy, Cordy,' Xander projected soothingly.

"They're not interested in harming anyone," Chantarelle added, looking cautiously at Cordelia; who now looked like she was ready to blow a gasket.

"You're an idiot," Cordelia said scathingly. "Not only that, a _badly dressed_ one! Newsflash, you moron, but vampires? They're_ not_ cuddly care bears with fangs! You ever meet one, I hope he chokes to death on your blood..."

Eyes wide, Chantarelle turned and fled into the crowd. Realizing they were beginning to get odd looks, the trio turned around and departed the basement. As they left the club Xander said to Cordelia, "You know, Cordy, here I thought you were a people person and all..."

"I am!" the blonde defended herself at once.

"Let's wait to discuss it until we're somewhere more private," Oz suggested. He then phased into wolf form and the three made their way to Breaker's Woods. Cordelia stayed quiet until Oz phased back and both boys watched as she started ranting in anger.

"Those people were so STUPID! They don't know what we - or should I say the normal vamps around here - REALLY are, Xander!" Cordelia said scathingly.

"I know, Cordy, but what's the point in telling_ them_ that?" Harris replied with a small chuckle. "What, were you wanting to out yourself and get declared the vampire queen of Sunnydale?"

"Shut up, Geekboy," Cordelia said, glaring at him.

"I wonder what they have in common with that Ford guy," Oz mused, interrupting the comedy act.

"Good question. Wanna find out?" Xander asked Oz

As Cordelia paced back and forth furiously, Oz agreed to keep an eye on Ford. Checking the time, Oz left to get some sleep before school and Cordelia and Xander went back to the condo to feed. Sleep being something they no longer had any use for, after all.

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Sunnydale Warehouse District – 6:00 pm, Friday

It had been exactly one week since Halloween, but that meant nothing to William the Bloody. A hooded figure stood in front of Spike, as he paced angrily.

"What the bloody hell do you mean, you haven't caught 'em yet?" he growled at the Akjin.

"They are more than what you told us, vampire," the figure spoke.

"FINE! I'll double the rates but you get everyone after this, you hear?"

"Double PER kill," the Akjin replied.

'What? Oh, bloody hell, that's gonna drain the finances,' William the Bloody thought bitterly. "Fine."

"BOSS!" came a yell from one of the minions.

Nodding, the Akjin left Spike who waited as Lucius, his second in command, came into the room. "What is it?" William demanded.

"Drusilla. She's gone out, boss," the minion replied fearfully.

"Bloody idiots, who let her go without informing me?" Spike growled.

"Doesn't matter. I already dusted 'em for you, boss," Lucius said, hoping that would save his own neck.

Spike just grunted angrily, settling in to wait for his dark princess to return.

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Weatherly Park – The same time

Looking around him, the eight-year-old boy named Jack shivered in the cool night air. Shifting a little on the cold steel of the roundabout, he wished just for once that his mom could be early and pick him up before dark.

Hearing rustling behind him he turned to a dark-haired lady dressed very strangely, swaying back and forth and humming. Standing up, the child backed a few steps towards the entrance of the park.

'It's not Halloween, why's that lady dressed so funny?' the boy thought.

"Are you lost, little one?" cooed the strange woman, getting closer.

Before he could answer a tall, dark-haired man came from nowhere placing himself in between them. Looking over his shoulder the man said in a stern voice, "Run home, NOW!" leaving no room for argument. So Jack fled, running home as fast as his little legs could carry him.

"What are you doing here, Dru?" Angel said, looking at the worst crime he had ever committed as Angelus.

"My Angel," Drusilla echoed, approaching him and running her hand down his chest.

"Leave, Dru. Leave now, take Spike and get out while you still can," Angel warned her, grabbing Drusilla by her arms.

Pulling away, Dru asked, "Why?"

"Dru, I know you that you know how things have changed around here," Angel replied, mentally shuddering at the thought of Oz and his wolf pack on the loose. He had heard the rumors since the other night, how the shapeshifters had started taking on the local vampires and were winning against them.

Drusilla's eyes widened with the realization that what the stars had said was true. "No! It's not you, not you! You're not my Daddy, Daddy will never come back!" the vampiress shrieked before fleeing the scene.

The insane creature disappeared into the darkness. Returning to the warehouse after grabbing a quick snack, Dru said in a trembling tone of voice, "Spoike?"

"Where the hell have you been, Dru, you've been gone half an hour!" Spike shouted, cursing himself for not following her – but then he knew he couldn't look weak in front of the minions.

"Spoike, I saw the Angel-beast, he told me we had to leave, the stars – they told me things have changed," Drusilla moaned, swaying back and forth.

"Oh he did, did he? Well, sod that; we're not going anywhere, ducks," William the Bloody chuckled. "Not 'til you're strong again, and that bloody Slayer is six feet under."

"Angel..." Dru continued, swaying.

"No matter what the poof says, we're go-" Spike said, before being interrupted by the smell of a human entering the lair. Said human barged in, eliciting a "What the bloody hell?!" from Spike.

"Hi," the human said cockily.

"What are we running here, an open house? Has no one heard of security, people?" the annoyed British vampire ranted. Grabbing the human by the throat, Spike growled, "Now tell me; why shouldn't I kill you, blood bag?"

"I've got something you want," Ford choked out.

Drusilla sashayed over, placing her hand on Spike's arm. "Let him go, my precious Willy."

"I don't like him already. Can I eat him now, love?" Spike pleaded with his sire, who simply gave him that damned puppy eyes treatment.

Releasing the human at his mate's unspoken command, Spike sighed in disgust; although he was cheered up by the appearance of a minion with a book. The minion looked familiar to Ford, who quickly realized it was the vamp he had let go the other night.

"Useful, very useful," Spike grinned madly, examining the du Lac manuscript.

"I can bring you the Slayer," Ford said abruptly, pushing away any doubts and thinking of his future.

Drusilla began giggling and dancing around the room, although Spike's "Easy, pet!" calmed her down somewhat.

"The Slayer, eh? So what do you want in return?" Spike asked Ford, getting down to business.

"I want immortality," Ford said demandingly. "I want to be like you."

"Oh, bugger that! I've only known you for all of thirty seconds, but already, I can't stand the notion of you hanging around for all eternity," Spike grumbled.

Still, after Ford began to negotiate, Spike agreed to the request – but only if the Slayer was delivered to him alive. After the boy left Spike and Drusilla danced around the room in celebration, then made love on the floor; uncaring of their minions, who quickly left the scene in disgust and/or fear.

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Giles's Condo – 4:00 pm, Saturday

Giles had just finished telling the assembled expanded Scooby gang (minus Angel) about a vampire stealing the du Lac book. "I was, uh, researching something Oz and Andrew told me about today," he said, not meeting Buffy's eyes. "Then some female vampire burst in and grabbed one of my books."

'I'm not holding back any longer, if he's a danger then Willow is in danger,' Oz thought. "Andrew and I, we smelt something funky about Ford the first moment we met him," he said aloud.

"Us too," Xander nodded, motioning to himself and Cordelia.

"What?" Buffy demanded, looking at Oz.

"Buffy, I think there's something up with this Ford guy. Me, Cordy and Oz, we tailed him to-" Xander started to say.

"You did what? Xander, I can't believe you!" Buffy said angrily.

'THAT BITCH!' Cordelia thought furiously. 'What, does she think you did it out of jealousy or something? Yeah, I bet she does!'

'It's alright, Cordy,' Xander told her, feeling the last of his more-than-friend feelings for Buffy vanish like a popped soap bubble.

The Slayer just turned on her heel and stormed out of the apartment. Giles cleaned his glasses and suggested that someone go after her. Willow did so, with Oz faithfully trailing after her. The Watcher then said, "Xander, Cordelia-"

"We're moving out," Cordy cut him off, much to Rupert's surprise. "It's long past time, Giles. I mean it's been a week, and you've come up with bupkus to turn us back to normal, right?"

"Well, yes," Giles admitted.

"Any idea where that Ethan guy might be?" Xander asked, going to the fridge to collect the bottled animal blood he and his new roommate would need.

"No," Giles said shamefully. "Still, you're right; if there's any hope for you two resuming human form now, it rests with him. I've exhausted all my sources, and I daren't call upon the Council to help; they would doubtless order a wet works team here to try to kill you both, instead. I'm sorry-"

"It's not your fault," Cordelia gave him a light hug, before stepping back. "Look, we'll be in touch. But like I said, it's long past time for us to start living our own lives. So we'll see you around, okay?"

"Very well." After Giles shook hands with Xander, he escorted them to the door and wished the two vampires all the best, reminding the transformed teens to drop by any time if there was any problem they couldn't cope with by themselves.

Which there wasn't...at least until Ford tried to give Buffy and all his friends at the Sunset Club to Spike and his vamps as a free meal, later that night. Ford got his wish and was a left for Buffy to find.

Ford never even got a chance to rise as a vampire, though, as Cordelia tore his head off in that basement and dealt with minions inside. Xander ripped apart the steel door trapping everyone inside, giving Chantarelle and the rest of those deluded fools a second chance at life whilst Buffy was unconscious via Spike. When the humans came out Xander dealt with the minions before they could blink. Spike and Drusilla fled in fear for their life meeting the twilight vampires and the pack.

Needless to say, when she woke up at her home with Dawn demanding to know why someone had dumped her on the doorstep before ringing the bell and leaving, Buffy wasn't happy. And once everyone, vampire and human alike, were gone from the basement club, Xander and Cordelia officially moved into the place. Well, after the Chase girl threw out anything and everything she and Xander didn't want or need; including a dorky-looking coffin, of all the ridiculous things.

TBC...


	21. Chapter 21: Diplomacy

A/N: There you go, hope you enjoyed. Thank you once more to my wonderful has once again aided me in my endeavor

A/N: This chapter skips 'The Dark Age' but there is mention of those events. My wonderful awesome beta reader Starway Man has once again aided me in my endeavors; big thanks!

Chapter 21 – Diplomacy

Sunset Club AKA Xander and Cordelia's Home – 8:30am, Friday

The loud banging on the front door was clearly heard by the vampiric duo in the basement. The new tenants of the Sunset Club looked at each other, wondering what Oz was doing at their front door at this hour.

Bypassing the inner door, which Xander had repaired from a few nights back, the male vampire walked to their front door. Opening up, he saw the werewolf calmly waiting for him.

"Hi," Oz said simply.

"Morning," Xander replied, closing the door behind his guest.

"How's things?" Oz asked laconically.

"Been kinda busy," Xander shrugged.

"Heard you guys had some squatters try to move in, last week," Oz mentioned conversationally, as they walked down the corridor.

"Yeah. Pissed Cordy right off, so much so she refused to dust them; she just threw those bloodsuckers out into the daylight, roughly around high noon," Xander sniggered.

"Yeah, but so what? No one takes what's mine, dweeb boy. I had to disinfect everything and wear gloves, which was just GROSS and SOOOO not fashionable," Cordelia moaned when the boys reached the basement stairs.

"She did, too, it was kinda hilarious," Xander said, laughing heartily at the memory and Cordelia's response. "I mean, Queen C doing housecleaning? Less than a month ago, it woulda been a sure sign of the apocalypse..."

Cordelia just glared at him and went back to the catalogs that she had grabbed from LA a few days ago, after she had started to go stir-crazy in Sunnydale and briefly visited the big city. 'Stupid dork making jokes about me, I ought to do something to get my revenge for that. Oooh, I know! I should parade around the house in nothing but my underwear, that ought to drive him nuts...'

Deliberately ignoring her, Xander invited Oz to sit on the old moth-eaten sofa that they had yet to replace. "So, Oz man, what's up?" Harris queried.

"Well, I wanted to wait awhile to discuss it, but I figure now's a good a time as any. Do you guys remember anything about the treaty?" Oz asked, not one for beating around the bush.

Stiffening, Cordelia glanced at Xander – who took an unneeded deep breath and counted to ten, before replying. "Yeah," he said stiffly.

"Relax, it's not what you think," Oz said calmly.

Looking at her roommate, Cordy put the catalogs down and sat next to Xander on the couch, holding his hand tight. 'Xander, what are we going to do if the pack says we can't stay in Sunnydale anymore? I've lived here all my life, and I don't want to live anywhere else,' she thought, looking upset.

'Not gonna happen, Cordy. I won't let that happen,' Xander vowed.

Unaware of the mental discussion Oz began to outline the plan he and his pack had come up with. "The guys and I were talking, and we thought that since you two don't seem likely to become human again anytime soon, a formal treaty might be worthwhile."

"Go on," Cordelia snapped, visibly upset.

Squeezing her hand, Xander motioned for Oz to continue. Not wanting to upset her any more, Oz directed his next sentence at Cordelia. "We don't want what the Cullens and the La Push pack had. We want something that works for us and you," he reassured her.

Nodding, Cordelia realized she wouldn't be forced out of her home town. With a small smile she apologized for snapping at Oz and explained to him why. Oz just shrugged and nodded, accepting that.

"So, what kind of treaty will it be?" Xander asked.

"Well, the townspeople need protection. We both know that. Figured we could patrol together whenever we needed to, you know, kinda back each other up."

"That sounds okay to me," Xander said cautiously, getting a nervous look from Cordy.

"Also wanted you to know that we know you're not a threat to the town, or us," Oz reassured him, hearing the edginess in Xander's voice.

"Good, it's not like we've fed on ANYBODY in the last two weeks," Cordelia replied, looking annoyed.

"I know that, and so does the pack. Kinda obvious," Oz said, looking at both vampires.

"What do you mean?" Cordelia asked curiously.

Oz explained how the pack could smell that Cordelia and Xander were the only vampires in Sunnydale who never drank human blood. How they could smell the monster inside Angel and the other vampires, but not within the two creatures that looked like Emmett and Rosalie Cullen. Relieved, Cordelia and Xander sighed in gratitude: the soul thing had been quite the elephant in the room that neither had wanted to bring up.

"So, Oz, you want us to be part of a team, right?" Xander asked, sending soothing thoughts to Cordelia.

"We thought you guys might wanna join us at a Pack meeting tonight, or tomorrow night if that suits," Oz said diplomatically.

Cordelia shrugged, thinking at Xander, 'I think we ought to consider it.'

"Listen, give us a while to discuss it. I mean, we have nearly ten hours before sunset," Xander replied, looking at Cordelia who nodded in agreement.

"Sure. We'll be at Miller's Woods at six for an hour if you want to come. But like I said, no pressure."

"Yeah, that's cool. But like I said, man, we need to discuss it," Xander replied.

Understanding completely, Oz took his leave of them with Xander closing the door behind him. Returning to the basement, Harris saw Cordelia pacing with arms wrapped around her. "Cordy?" Xander said softly.

Turning to face him Cordy spoke so low even he could just barely hear her. "I'm don't like this, Xander. I mean, Oz wants to have a treaty and meet with the rest of his pack; what if they demand conditions that I can't meet?" she said, looking off somewhere in the distance.

Steeping in front of her, Xander put his hands gently on her upper arms and said firmly, "Cordy, relax. Okay? They're not gonna set impossible conditions for us to live by! Because we're going to put a few of our own on the table," he reassured her.

"Good," Cordelia replied, finally looking at Xander. "Yeah, you're right, we've got to do something like that; negotiate from a position of strength. Damn it, why didn't I think of that before? This is no different from trying to maintain my spot on top of the social pyramid, at school..."

"Something you're very good at," Xander said, smirking.

"Well, of course!" Sniffing, Cordelia wrinkled her nose. "Ewww! I need to disinfect the place again, it smell like wet dog..."

Laughing, Xander left her to it and had a quick look at the catalogs for his own ideas. Later as he walked round the basement, he decided to try his hand at carpentry and design two bedrooms. 'Sure, the no sleeping thing means that's technically sorta pointless, but I figure it couldn't hurt to have our own personal rooms. Especially after we have a fight, Cordy and I kinda need our space to retreat to...'

After a while, Cordelia had finished disinfecting her house – including the hallway to the front door. Satisfied, the blonde plopped down on the couch and watched Xander walk around the room. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think of setting up two bedrooms and a sitting room down here?" he asked her.

"Huh? What's wrong with the rooms upstairs?" Cordy asked back.

"I just figured there's more room down here, what with how this place used to be a bomb shelter. And not that we need sleep anymore, but if this is going to be our home, we need to have our own rooms."

"Yeah, you're right. Say, can you make a walk-in wardrobe for me?" Cordelia asked with a sudden gleam in her eyes, thinking she could more or less be herself again if she could store her own clothes here.

"Yeah, Cor, I guess. Although I shudder to think how much room you'll need for all your Gunuchi, Vercase and Parada," Xander replied with a smirk.

"That's Gucci, Versace and Prada, Geekboy! God, don't you know anything about fashion other than Dork and Doofus?" Cordelia snarked back with a smirk of her own.

Grinning over how Cordelia had found a subject that was a balm to her soul, Xander got out a measuring tape and started to make plans and drawings. Feeling happy, Cordelia smiled and gave him orders on what needed to go where. They spent most of the day discussing how they were going to set up their home for long-term habitation, and by lunchtime Cordelia had realized that she was feeling more and more at ease with her former nemesis as the days passed.

'Weird as, but I don't know what I'd do without Xander anymore,' Cordelia thought, enjoying the view as her roommate started lugging stuff around the basement. 'Sure, he's still a dork – but he's not all bad. And it's not like there's any other guy like him, anywhere else in this world...'

Soon after, Xander decided to take a break as they sat and discussed the werewolf pack's offer. Guzzling down their blood, and discussing pros and cons, and after hours of debate – the two vamps decided to accept the pack's offer...

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Not far from Miller's Woods, Sunnydale – 6:00 pm, Friday

Cordelia Chase was pissed! 'Two weeks, TWO lousy weeks – and Devon's already found another girlfriend?!'

"Just calm down, Cor," Xander said placatingly, seeing the blonde woman's golden eyes briefly turn red from the fury. "You were going to dump him anyway, remember?"

"Sure! But _that_ doesn't give that guy the right to make out with Harmony in Lover's Lane, Xander!" Cordelia ranted, feeling betrayed and bloodthirsty.

"Well, I figure they won't last long, myself. That girl, she's way too flaky for a serious relationship," Harris tried to comfort her.

"Are you kidding? You heard what she said – Harmony's become the new queen of Sunnydale High! And to think, Buffy and Willow call all my friends the Harmonettes now!" Cordelia ranted furiously. "Plus I'm still listed as missing presumed kidnapped, but it sounds like nobody's actually looking for me anymore!"

"This is Sunnydale, Cordelia. What did you expect? I mean, how many of our classmates have just disappeared ever since kindergarten, and everyone simply forgot about them almost straightaway?" Xander pointed out.

"Yeah, but – God damn it, Xander, how can you be so _calm_ about this?!" Cordy demanded, glaring at her roommate. "Because I don't know about you, but I don't want to end up as just another Sunnydale statistic! I want my life back! I want to be ME again!"

"I know, I know," Xander sighed, giving her a hug. "But life doesn't always turn out the way we want it to, sweetheart. Hell, look at me; everyone apart from our little circle of friends has already forgotten I ever existed, I'll betcha. Of course, as far as my parents are concerned, that's more of a blessing than a curse..."

"I'm STILL not happy about this," Cordelia fumed, hugging Xander tighter without even thinking about it.

"I know. Guess you're just gonna have to make lemonade out of the current situation," Xander joked, trying to cheer up the (possibly former) cheerleader.

Cordelia abruptly pushed him away. "I will. You know what? NO ONE will say that Cordelia Chase is a whiny loser! Now come on, we've got a meeting to attend..."

She blurred and vanished, as Xander quickly did likewise. Hearing a whoosh, the Alpha of the pack turned to face the vampires, who stepped cautiously forward. The rest of the pack, Jonathan, Willow and Andrew, sat around a burning fire.

"Hi guys, glad you came," Oz said to the vamps.

"Thanks for having us. And for, y'know, not being all wolf-y," Xander replied, smiling at the older boy.

"No problem," Oz replied calmly.

Cordelia glanced around her, hiding how fearful she suddenly was. After all, she was Cordelia Chase; if she could her true self for all these years from her former friends, then she could hide emotions from the human mutts.

'Hard to feel confident when you're possibly going to be surrounded by horse-size wolves?' Xander thought to Cordy.

'NOT making me feel any better, dweeb!' Cordelia snapped.

'Sorry, just trying to empathize,' Xander thought softly. 'Cheer you up a little.'

Looking at him and nodding, Cordelia turned her attention back to the wolves. "So what's the deal here?"

"It's been two weeks since we all changed, but what with everything that's happened lately..." spoke Oz.

Snorting, Warren stood up and said, "That librarian guy, he could have put everyone in danger!"

"SIT, Warren!" Oz commanded, and his packmate immediately sat back down.

"I agree, actually," Cordelia nodded, surprising Warren.

"Uh, thanks," he stammered, slightly astonished.

"Yeah, myself I'm still stunned over how the G-man had such a hidden bad boy past. Willow said that if Deadboy hadn't let Eyghon in, it would have been really bad; Ms. Calendar woulda died," Xander shook his head.

"Right. I mean, we all knew Giles suddenly smelled bad for some reason, but when we asked that morning, he said it was just a spell gone bad," Jonathan replied.

"Too bad we didn't realize his mage friend had come back. If we had, we would have had one of us sticking to Giles 24/7," Andrew added angrily.

"Yeah, well, damn shame we missed out on meeting that Ethan guy too. I'd have liked to have shown him his handiwork in detail," Xander growled, followed by a violent growl from an angry Cordelia.

"I figure we're with you all the way there," Oz said diplomatically. "Another time."

The pack all nodded in response, all three annoyed that they had not had the chance to target the person who'd changed their lives completely.

"Not sure if you know, but we stayed away from Giles for a few days when we found out what happened from Wills the day after. Cordy wrecked my uncle's scrap yard again," Xander shrugged.

"Well, it was either that or go postal over how I missed out on the chance to possibly become myself again," Cordelia snapped. "I swear, first that and then finding out Harmony's taken over my life, I just want to..."

"Calm down," Xander said forcefully, as the Pack suddenly all got up and stared at her in concern. Thanks to their Halloween memories, all five of them knew the signs of a Twilight vampire about to lose control and go on a berserker rage. "Cordelia? Listen to me. You need to chill. Right now!"

"Fine, whatever," she said grouchily, calming down; much to everyone's relief.

"Good. Okay, have you guys heard any news about those Akjin guys? Me and Cordy haven't learned anything on our patrols," Xander stated to the Pack.

"Us neither," Oz shook his head.

Suddenly everyone smelt something foul, something so malodorous, everybody present – even Cordelia and Xander – immediately felt nauseous. 'What the hell...' was the uniform thought across everyone's minds.

Multiple figures appeared at the edge of the clearing, surrounding them on all sides; deep red eyes shining in the darkness. Stepping forward, the lead Akjin a seven-foot-tall figure spoke. Spike's paid killer-slash-bodyguard said...

TBC...

A/N: DUN DUN DUN. I know you hate me, but bear with me, more is to come soon.


	22. Chapter 22: Suprises And The Treaty

"Speech"

'Thought'

_'Pack Mental Communication'_

Chapter 22 – Surprises And The Treaty

Miller's Woods, Sunnydale – 6:10 pm, Friday

"FOUND YOU," the Akjin spoke in a gravelly voice.

The pack responded to this by phasing, their clothes shredding in a second as savagely growling wolves appeared in place of the four young men.

_'Gahhh, this is even worse in wolf form,' _Jonathan almost gagged, trying not to throw up.

_'Agreed,' _came from the responses from Andrew and Warren.

_'I know, guys, but keep it together,'_ Oz commanded.

"Yeah, any chance of you just leaving quietly?" Xander quipped after getting ahold of himself. "Myself I doubt it, but I thought I'd ask."

"Funny boy, what are you?" the Akjin leader said, who was known as Ophyr to his clan.

"Wanna find out?" Cordelia growled, showing her true strength and feeling determined to not to go down without a fight.

"Ah, the female, is she yours?" Ophyr asked, looking towards Xander.

"No. What makes you think that?" Growling, Xander stepped in front of Cordelia, showing her and the pack a side of him they had never seen before. What with Emmett's memories of defending his mate, Xander was a somewhat formidable sight. "Okay, let's cut the crap. You're not here for laughs, and we're not going down without a fight."

"Well, that is unwise of you," Ophyr said amiably, before giving his forces the signal to attack.

Charging forward, the Akjin burst from the tree line and attacked. It was seventeen (armed with swords) against six, as the bad guys ran against the Sunnydale teenagers.

"Oooh, scary," Xander quipped again, before he raced straight for the leader. Avoiding its sword and surprising Ophyr by his speed, he threw a punch that would have leveled a house - killing the Akjin leader instantly.

Unseen by any of the group, a small box fell from Ophyr's robes onto the ground. Cordelia, remembering Jasper's training, took out an Akjin by breaking his neck and unsurprisingly, the robed creature did not get up again. Swiftly turning and taking out another Akjin in the same manner, Cordelia kept her back to Xander, remembering to not leave herself exposed and vulnerable. The wolf pack was doing just as well, luckily.

_'Andy, on your left!'_

_'Thanks Jono!'_

_'Oz, behind you!' _

The Alpha responded to Warren's warning by turning and tearing the head off the Akjin behind him. _'Thanks.'_

_'Warren, look out!'_ Jonathan shouted, wincing in sympathetic pain as an Akjin stabbed his packmate in the ribs.

Yelping in severe pain, Warren was saved by Xander tearing the Akjin's head off. "You alright?" he asked a slightly whimpering Warren.

Nodding in response, the wolf growled, charging back into the fight and taking out two of the enemy in quick succession. _'That hurt, damn it; see how you like it!'_ Warren snarled, rushing to attack another Akjin, killing it by piercing the robed creature like a vamp.

_'They don't dust like a vampire,'_ Warren warned the others.

"Eight down and nine to go, I like it!" Xander yelled, pumped up. 'I could fight a bear right about now, these things aren't a challenge at all!' he thought to Cordelia, snapping an Akjin's sternum with a punch and killing it instantly.

'Damn it, Xander, this isn't the time for your macho _crap_!' Cordelia snarled, taking out another robed figure. 'Gloat all you want _after_ they're all dead!'

Oz tore the head off another of the Akjin but was slashed by a sword held by an enemy combatant, whose head was ripped off by Cordy. Andrew was fighting two Akjin at once when the one on his left threw a punch as a distraction. He dodged the punch and was stabbed through the shoulder by the Akjin on the right. Andrew yelped in pain, limping, trying desperately to avoid the sword. Luckily for him Cordelia snarled, jumped over the werewolf and tore the perpetrator and his fellow to pieces.

_'Andy, you alright?'_ Jonathan asked, concerned from where he was fighting an Akjin which was soon beaten and demolished.

_'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine; just hurts a little. Thanks for asking,'_ Andrew replied, wincing as he put weight on his leg.

Warren was dealing with the last Akjin, which did not last long after the sword was knocked out of its hand by his massive paw. He then pinned it and ripped its head off, before spitting it out. _'Urghh, those things taste worse than leeches,' _Mears complained, lolling his canine tongue.

_'Tell me about it. I wanna lick my own nuts just to get the taste out of my mouth,' _Andrew replied, getting a chorus of 'Ewww's' from the rest of the pack.

_'I'd rather eat dog food than do that,' _Jonathan said.

_'Can I just say yuck to all of those, in order,'_ Oz said with a slight mental laugh, staring at the seventeen corpses littered all over the forest floor. He was wounded, but it was nothing his healing factor couldn't cope with.

Xander suggested leaving the bodies for the client to find, having found a note in Ophyr's robe saying that the client would meet them in the woods at 10 pm. There was talk of confronting the client, but since most members of the wolf pack were wounded, better to be discrete about this; at least for now, and the rest of tonight. Leaving the clearing, the group quickly ended up in another clearing.

"Hey, guys, look at this," Xander said, holding a small steel box he had found by Ophyr's body along with the note.

"What's that?" Cordelia asked.

"Not sure. I can't open it, at least not yet. You okay?" Xander asked, looking at her in concern.

'I'm fine, you?' Cordy thought at him.

'I am now,' Harris thought softly. He hoped that Cordelia couldn't sense what else he was feeling right now, especially when Ophyr had asked if Cordelia was 'his' woman. It was unlikely she'd get angry at _him_ for the Akjin saying that, but you could never quite tell with the Chase girl.

"You guys okay? Has the shapeshifter healing kicked in?" Xander asked, looking at the wolves. With a nod and a small woof from Warren and Andrew, Xander understood that their healing had indeed begun.

"They need clothes, Xander, and so do we," Cordelia said, indicating their torn and ripped clothing.

Admittedly, it was quite hard to tear his gaze away from Cordelia's torn tank top but somehow Xander managed it. Gulping at Cordelia's narrowed eyes promising a world of pain if he did so again, Xander said, "Agreed."

"I'll go," she said crisply, blurring and returning seconds later holding what looked like name-brand clothing.

"Wow, Cordy, what a time to think about fashion," Harris told her with a nervous grin.

"At least they'll look good. Too bad the same can't be said about you," she replied sweetly, the wolves grasping clothing in their teeth.

"HEY! Don't rip those, they're Armani!" Cordy yelled at the pack, before she gave Xander a pair of old jeans and a faded T-shirt. Scowling at her saccharine-sweet smile, the sparkle-pire just went behind a tree and changed clothes. Once the wolves had phased back to human form, they returned wearing their new clothes.

"Well, I guess that was fun," Xander said, placing the box in a pocket.

"Yeah, if Embry's memories are anything to go by," Jonathan grinned.

"I'm just glad we heal quick," Andrew said and Warren quickly agreed.

"Good job, guys," said a pleased Oz.

"I have to admit. You were right about us working together," Cordelia said softly.

"Yeah, you were. Oz, I think the treaty is a good idea," Xander added.

"Okay. Well, you guys know our terms, what are yours?" Oz asked.

Looking at Cordelia and remembering their prior conversation, Xander stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Uh, before we get into that, there's something I've been meaning to tell you..." he said, swallowing nervously.

"What?" Oz said, looking at the others.

"Well, the thing is – ever since Halloween, I can hear thoughts and project my thoughts into other people's minds," Harris said in one long rush.

"Like the opposite to Edward?" Andrew asked, happily remembering Seth's friend.

Nodding uncertainly, although he would not have been surprised if Xander had somehow acquired Alice's abilities, Oz simply said, "Okay. Cool, that'll come in handy."

"Really? Wow! Man, I was so worried you guys would be angry about that," Xander said, looking relieved.

"Don't see why," Oz said laconically, with nods of agreement from his packmates.

"Hey, what am I thinking now?" Jonathan asked with a wide grin.

"Star Wars marathon. Pass on that, Cordelia and I will," Xander did a great imitation of Frank Oz after glancing at the disgusted look on Cordelia's face.

"Cool, you really are like Yoda!" Warren said, with an enthusiastic nod from Andrew.

"Geeks. Ugh, can we get this treaty thing out of the way?" Cordelia said, rolling her eyes and nodding at Xander to do the talking.

"Okay, ermm, shall we list ours?" Xander asked Oz.

"Yeah, I brought paper and pen. Let's do this," the Alpha nodded

Both vampires agreed, sitting down. The undead pair made two lists: one for themselves and one for the werewolves. They soon compared lists, which read:

Wolves (Cordelia) Vampires (Xander)

1 NO TREATY LINE 1 NO TREATY LINE

2 No Human Blood 2 NO HUMAN BLOOD EVER

3 Patrols Do Not Clash With Beauty Parlor Appointments 3 Watch Angel CLOSELY

4 No Star Wars Marathons 4 Protect the town and beyond if possible

5 Protect the townspeople 5 Animals can be hunted anywhere

6 Watch Buffy closely 6 Any valuables found on vamps to be split 50/50

7. Keep an eye on Angel 7 Keep an eye on Willow

"Not sure what you mean by the reference to Willow. No explanation, no treaty," Oz said, thinking of his imprint.

"I just meant that she be kept safe, especially from Angel," Xander explained, he was still unhappy about the fact that vampire now had access to his best friend's house.

"Here we go," Cordelia rolled her eyes again.

"The Girl Power thing again?" Oz asked her.

"Damn right! When are you cavemen ever going to realize that women can do whatever the hell they want, nowadays? We're good for more than just having the babies, and looking after the household; whether you like it or not!" Cordelia growled at all the members of the Y chromosome club.

"Whatever," Oz nodded, as Xander glared at his roommate. "Here are our conditions." He nodded to Andrew, who handed a sheet of paper over to Xander. He read it, nodded and then gave it to Cordy, who also nodded.

"We agree to all these, and you can see from ours, number two will NOT happen," Xander said vehemently.

"I know, we both said it wouldn't, I just thought seeing it there would let you know it's official," Oz said on behalf of the pack.

"I like the idea of Cordelia's number six, although not so much numbers three and four," Andrew added truthfully.

"Personally I say number six is a must, I mean - anyone that lets a leech run around unchecked needs watching," Warren said firmly.

"So what happens if a rule gets broken?" Cordelia asked bluntly.

"Not sure. Do you think any will get broken?" Oz replied.

"Well, I just wondered. I mean, from Rosalie's memories, a war almost started when that treaty was broken – and which was only averted when Renesmee was born, and Jacob imprinted her," the blonde said vehemently.

"Well, you guys don't drink human blood, and WE know you won't," Andrew said, emphasizing the last part.

"Yeah, it's like you two were born vegetarian," Jonathan added.

"No one will break the rules, Cor. Neither us, nor them," Xander stated, looking at everybody with no trace of the class clown present.

Everybody nodded, and Cordelia was finally reassured of that point. Although Oz understood why she had asked, from his own Jacob memories and the separation from Sam's pack.

"I'm up for violating Cordy's rule number four, on second thoughts," Xander said, grinning at Andrew and Jonathan; who grinned back enthusiastically, breaking the tension.

"No, no, noooooo! We had one last weekend," Mears moaned. "We gotta do something different this weekend!"

'Maybe we can turn the upstairs of the club into a rumpus room,' Xander thought.

'HEY, no way! I live there too, you know!' Cordelia replied heatedly.

'Chill, Cordy, we'll shut the inner steel door when they visit and keep out the pack scent.'

Mentally sniffing Cordelia thought back at Harris, 'Okay, but if it smells afterwards, _you're_ the one on clean-up detail, and we're talking every single time they come over. And you'll clean the house to MY satisfaction! Comprende?'

'Slavedriver. Yeah, maybe us meeting in the woods or Oz's place will be better,' Xander thought with a shrug. He had lived with Cordelia long enough to know she meant every single word of her threat.

"Hey Xander, Cordelia?" Jonathan said, staring at them.

"What's up?" Xander replied, looking at the pack member.

"Were you two talking telepathically just now?" he asked.

"Noo, I just like looking into Xander's eyes at every possible opportunity," Cordelia replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

'Even though I _do_, God damn it – Devon's moved on and Xander's been there for me and I…oh my God, _no_! Don't tell me I'm falling in love with that geek?! Damn it, no way!' Cordelia thought nervously, glancing at Xander to see if she could tell whether he had heard her say that.

'Why's Cordy looking at me like that?' he thought to himself. 'No, never mind.' "Gee, Cordy, I didn't know you cared so much," Xander replied to her last comment.

"I just thought I'd ask," Jonathan shrugged.

"Can you try to do it with us, Xander? 'Cause it'll be like using the Force or something," Andrew said eagerly, earning another groan from Warren.

'You mean, like this?' Xander thought to Andrew.

'WHOA, I heard that!' Andrew replied, almost entering geeker heaven.

'Yeah, and I heard THAT,' Xander projected.

"COOL!" came the geek's ecstatic reply.

"Did it work? It did work, didn't it?" Jonathan asked eagerly, staring at Andrew.

'Yeah,' Xander thought at the former nerd.

'This is SO COOL, you're like Obi-Wan!' Jonathan thought, his inner fan boy foaming at the mouth.

"You too, huh?" Oz asked, seeing Jonathan's ecstatic expression.

"Can you do a group thought?" Warren asked Xander curiously.

Looking at Cordelia, Harris said, "Not sure, I've never tried it. But here goes..."

'Can everyone hear me?' Xander thought, trying to project his thoughts to everyone present.

'Yes!' came the loudest and quickest reply from Cordy.

'We hear you, Master Obi-Wan,' came the chorus from Jonathan and Andrew.

'No problem on my end,' Warren replied, looking at Xander in amazement.

'This will definitely come in handy one day, Xander,' Oz said, ever the thinker.

"You should try phasing, see if it works while they're in animal form," Cordelia said, shocking Xander. "What? I'll have you know it takes a degree in fashion to plan ahead like this," Cordelia added primly.

Chuckling, Xander replied while shaking his head, "You would know, Cordy."

The pack went behind trees, discarded their clothes and phased. Xander once again projected his thoughts, finding that the pack's thoughts were louder when the guys were in wolf form. Once the quartet had changed back again, Oz asked, "Does distance affect you?"

Shaking his head, Harris explained he could still hear Cordy when she was in LA. "She didn't listen on what I wanted her to get, though. I mean, you guys are dressed in Armani, whereas look at me! Where's the Hawaiian shirt I wanted?" Xander complained, getting understanding noises from the rest of the guys.

Glaring at him, Cordelia simply harrumphed and replied, "As if I was going to get you something like _that_! For God's sake, Xander, stop being such a fashion victim. I'll never understand why it is you want to look like Don Ho, or Magnum P.I., or whatever! As long as you're living with me, I refuse to let you dress like that!"

"Hey!" Xander said to her angrily. "Since when did I take a vow to follow your ideas of fashion?"

'_They're starting to fight again,'_ Jonathan said to his three packmates, as the two vampires started to argue vehemently.

'_It's like watching something out of a cheesy 1960's TV show, you know, the ones with the constantly bickering husband and wife,'_ Andrew nodded.

'_What I don't understand is why they don't get just get a room, or something!'_ Warren shrugged. _'You guys can smell it as well, can't you? They want each other. So if you ask me, those two should just do it like mad bunnies and then calm down, already!'_

Chuckling, Oz declared the meeting over and suggested that everybody should go home for the night. Cordelia and Xander blurred and vanished, heading back to their home before resuming their argument. The pack adjourned to Oz and Andrew's place for a relaxing night of watching 'The Empire Strikes Back', knowing the Slayer was on patrol.

Even if 'patrol' in this case meant making out with Angel, just as much as seeking out the evil undead.

TBC...


	23. Chapter 23: Hope

Chapter 23 – Hope

Spike and Dru's Lair, Sunnydale Warehouse District – 3:00 am, Sunday

"DAMN IT, THOSE STUPID FUCKING PRICKS!" William the Bloody shouted furiously. Throwing anything he could get his hands on, Spike screamed in rage and fury as he vented about the stupidity of Akjin. "THEY COULDN'T EVEN TAKE OUT THOSE BLOODY DOGS OR THOSE NEWBIES?!"

"Bo-" a newly risen minion began to say.

But he was cut off by the sharp pain caused a rage-filled Spike, who had just shoved his arm clear through the other vampire's chest. William the Bloody did not even look in the minion's direction as he exploded into dust, just staring at his blood-drenched duster covering his right arm. "Bollocks..."

"Spike-y," came the sweet melodious voice of Drusilla.

Instantly calming down at hearing the voice of his lady love, Spike turned to face her. "I'm sorry, pet, I just get so mad at the idiotic henchmen…

"We don't even know who those upstart newcomers are, Dru. All I've 'eard is they control those werewolves, somehow. If we could just kill them after making 'em talk, we could have them mutts do _our_ bidding," he growled, angry at the thought.

"Oh, my precious Spoike. Ruff, ruff! If you can't get the kitties and their doggies, get the naughty Slayer," Dru cooed, licking his ear.

Laughing maniacally, Spike grabbed his sire tightly and spun her around in a circle. Still chuckling, he said, "You're absolutely right, ducks! Long past time I saw to that, idn't it? I'll have someone kill her who's actually competent..."

Giggling, the insane vampiress twirled around with her mate. Spike said to her excitedly, "C'mon, love, I have Dalton translating that book we swiped from that pathetic Watcher a few weeks back. We'll have you back to your old self soon," he said, kissing her passionately before setting Drusilla down on the floor gently.

Spike then ordered Lucas to bring him a phone. 'Let's see if that bloody Slayer can take on the Order of Taraka,' he thought in manic delight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Giles's apartment – 9:00 pm, Sunday

Hearing knocking on the front door, Giles stood up, taking a deep breath. He opened the door, and was unsurprised to see Xander and Cordelia standing on his doorstep. "Please, come in," he said. Normally he would never just invite someone in like that, but these two were a special case.

"Thanks, Giles," Xander replied, stepping through the door. Cordelia followed, giving Rupert a small smile.

When they were both seated on the couch, Giles began. "Thank you for coming, the both of you. I just wanted to apologize-"

"What are you apologizing for, Giles? What happened with that sleepwalker demon? Willow told me it was way back when you were practically our age. And you didn't know how this whole Eyghon thing would come around and bite you on the ass," Xander said, cutting him with a firm look.

"Yeah, Giles, we all do stupid stuff," Cordelia added, looking him in the eye.

"Nonetheless, we let Ethan get away. And I...I only made a token effort to find out anything concerning how to, uh, fix, what happened to you both," Giles admitted, looking ashamed.

"So, what exactly did that asshole say when you asked him about that?" Cordelia demanded.

"Ethan said...uh, well, he mentioned that..."

"What?" Xander demanded this time.

"In a nutshell? He said, 'That's chaos magic for you, old chap. Nothing I can do about it now.' I-I'm not sure if he was lying, but if he wasn't...then Ethan can't restore you two back to normal, anymore than I can," Giles confessed.

Xander and Cordelia stared at one another, as some sort of mental conversation seemed to take place between them. Giles simply watched, feeling it wasn't his place to interrupt. Even though the look on Cordelia's face made him want to apologize again anyway.

"I heard Miss Calendar's avoiding you now," Xander finally spoke up again, as if attempting to change the subject.

"She's being an idiot!" Cordelia said vehemently.

"Cordy!" said a shocked Xander.

"No way, Harris; Giles did something STUPID in his youth, that's a given. But that doesn't mean what happened a week ago was entirely his fault," she snapped.

"Nonetheless, I-I should have said something after Philip showed up," Giles said wearily, having beaten himself up about this all week.

"LOOK, Giles, it's been dealt with! It's over, and NO ONE was hurt," Xander replied firmly but gently.

"Yeah, if anyone _was_ hurt then we would be kicking your ass right now, Watcher guy," Cordelia said, pulling no punches.

Chuckling weakly, Giles replied, "I don't doubt that, Miss Chase."

They sat in silence for a while, Giles looking like a broken man. Xander was concerned and thought at Cordelia, 'We seriously need to make the G-man get over this, somehow.'

'Sure, he did something completely stupid but look how many lives he's saved through training Buffy and keeping her alive,' Cordelia thought at him in return.

'Wow, Cordy. Very astute of you,' Harris snarked.

'Well, dweeb, I figure I owe him for everything he's done for me over the last three weeks,' Cordy replied truthfully.

Breaking the silence that had fallen over the room, Cordelia surprised both Xander and Giles by asking if he wanted to see where they were living nowadays. Giles was about to turn the offer down when Xander said, "Listen, Giles, you'd be doing _me_ a big favor if you take up Cordy's offer. She needs an outsider's validation, after turning the Sunset Club into Barbie's Dream House. Sure, Oz loved the place, but it's not like he's human like you..."

Cordelia glared at him. "Hey! Listen up, doofus, just because the place _looks_ like a home now..."

Sniggering, Xander replied, "Yeah, you haven't spent the last two weeks going all crazy over furnishings and stuff."

"STUFF? I'll have you know…my God, if it was up to YOU then we would just have the bare necessities in our home! Like the sofa, and a fridge to keep our blood fresh. URGH!" the blonde vampiress replied angrily, folding her arms under her breasts.

Seeing Giles smile, they knew they had broken him out of his funk; even if it was just temporary. "Very well, Xander. I think for the sake of Miss Chase's sanity, I'd best comply," he said sheepishly.

Excusing himself to his study, Rupert picked up the box Oz had delivered to him after that night in the woods. Taking a deep breath, Giles hoped this news would brighten their last few weeks. "Before we go, though, I just want to show you what was in the box you found last week. I had an associate in Los Angeles open it for me yesterday," Rupert said after he returned to the living room.

"Cool," Xander said, glancing at Cordelia; who just shrugged.

Placing it on the coffee table, Giles opened the box using the code his friend had given him. Inside were two medallions in a velvet bag. Opening the bag, Rupert laid the medallions on the table.

"What are they?" Cordelia demanded.

"My friend says the Akjin, uh, found them in Italy. They were stolen from a convent in Tuscany, apparently. It's mentioned in the Watcher diaries how a rather large coven of vampires was chased out of that city, during the 16th century," Giles supplied.

"These things are from a convent whose people chased vampires out of their city? So, is it a good idea to have them anywhere near us?" Cordelia replied, eying the medallions warily.

"Perhaps, Miss Chase, you see – these are demonic artifacts, which were designed to allow vampires to walk outside during the day. A-and give the wearer a pseudo-tan, to be able to pass for human," Giles said, watching their reactions.

"WHAT?" Cordelia yelped.

"Who the hell came up with these things, Giles?" Xander demanded.

"I'm, err, not certain," Giles shrugged, noting how Cordelia had instinctively grabbed Xander's hand. "The medallions have a, um, a rather murky history, I'm afraid. There are rumors they were forged by the same mage who also created the mythical Gem of Amarra, but-but no one's sure if that story is true," Giles explained. "Nonetheless, the artifacts _do_ work; I've confirmed that through checking the Watcher diaries. So, would either of you like to try them on?"

"I don't know..." Cordy said doubtfully.

'Hey, I say we at least give 'em a try, babe...I mean, Cordy,' Xander said mentally, cringing at his over-familiarity.

Ignoring his slip-up – although if Queen C was honest with herself, within the privacy of her own mind, she didn't actually mind him calling her that any longer. She just replied candidly, 'Xander, what if something goes wrong?'

'Remember what you said the other day, about trusting Giles?' Harris replied, raising an eyebrow in her direction.

Sighing, Cordelia responded to Xander's unspoken plea. "Okay, Giles, what the hell. I mean, if it works – at least I'll be actually able to shop at the mall again, instead of having to order stuff online!"

"That's our Cordy," Xander said with a smile, before picking up one of the medallions and turning it over in his hands. "So, Giles, where should we try them out?" he asked eagerly.

"Is there any unshaded area near your home?" the Watcher replied.

"The alley gets sunlight," Xander replied.

"And just about no one goes in there anymore, not since we put the dumpster across the entrance," Cordy said cautiously.

"Hmmm, maybe you could try it tomorrow morning; then the disco-ball effect will be hidden from anyone passing by," Giles said thoughtfully.

"Oh, puh-lease, it's sparkling, Giles – NOT disco ball!" a miffed Cordelia said in annoyance.

"Yes, uh, I do apologize, Miss Chase," Giles replied hurriedly.

"Why don't you come by, G-man, and see it for yourself?" Xander asked, wanting to breaking the tension.

"Ah, very well," Giles replied. "As long as I arrive at work on time, it shouldn't be a problem."

Agreeing to meet tomorrow morning at 8 am, the two vampires left the condo. Instead of heading back home, though, Xander and Cordelia went on the hunt for blood; having discovered a nature reserve between LA and Sunnydale full of various wildlife, which Cordelia was finding slightly easier to stomach than bottled pig's blood.

Xander, however, so had a hankering for a bear.

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Xander and Cordelia's Place - 7:50 am, Monday

Hearing footsteps in the alleyway, Xander opened the front door of his home. After greeting Giles, the two males walked through the upper part of the former club and down into what was now the living area containing separate pseudo-bedrooms for the two house mates. Along with the bathroom Cordelia JUST had to have - Yeah she was SOOOO pleased she had a reflection. Xander had nearly gone deaf with Cordelia jubilantly shouting with joy.

"Hi Giles," Cordelia greeted him. The blonde Rosalie-lookalike was dressed in an immaculate designer outfit, with not a hair out of place. Xander, on the hand, was favoring the jeans, T-shirt and long sleeved shirt that were the core of Emmett's wardrobe.

"Hello, Cordelia. Wonderful place you have here," Rupert replied, looking around in awe at the work that had been done in just a few weeks.

"That's the thing, Giles; you'd be surprised at just what you can accomplish when you don't need to sleep," Xander said, flopping onto the large couch.

"Careful, dork, you'll break it!" Cordelia snapped.

"Chill, Cordy. I know my own strength by now," Xander waved her concerns off.

Chuckling, Giles suggested they try the medallions. Both teens stood, looking at the other and gathering strength from each other. Cordelia stepped cautiously forward. Placing a hand on her lower back in silent support, Xander escorted the former cheerleader to the entrance of the building, as Giles trailed after them.

"Not to rush you or anything, but I thought it would be best to do it now rather than…err, beat around the bush," Giles said.

"Well, Giles, I for one can't disagree,you can't view my nice home with something on your mind Mr Giles"" Cordelia replied, hiding her concern and mustering her courage.

'Together, Cordy,' she heard Xander.

'Together, Xander,' she replied.

Xander mustering all his courage gained in the 17 years of life nonetheless was the first to step forward placed the medallion around his neck. Cordelia not to be outdone gathered her own courage and took the remaining medallion from Giles placing it around her neck.

Cordelia, not to be outdone, took the remaining medallion from Giles and placed it around her neck. They both felt a brief tingle in their bodies...

Watching the two teens make possibly the bravest decision ever, Giles bore witness with fatherly concern as Xander and Cordelia stepped into the sunlight. He had seen them sparkle in the daylight only once before, and this time – he hoped that there would not be a repeat performance.

Releasing an unneeded breath, both Cordelia and Xander stepped out from the shadows and into the Californian daylight. Cordelia was fervently squeezing her eyes shut, hoping Giles was right.

"Cordy," Xander said softly from beside her. "Look."

Feeling him take hold of her hand, the blonde vampiress opened her eyes and turned to her roommate. She gasped as she noticed the lack of sparkles, before releasing Xander's hand.

"No sparkliness," she gasped.

"Nope," Xander grinned. "And you look tanned now. Giles was right – these things really do work!"

"They do! They really do!" Cordelia turned to Giles and hugged him impulsively, mindful of her inhuman strength. The British man briefly wrapped his arms around her, before letting go.

"How can we ever thank you for this, Giles?" Cordy said, laying her head on the man's shoulder.

Xander joined them, wrapping his arms around the both of them and echoed Cordelia's sentiments. Giles instantly felt more at peace than he had since Eyghon had shown up again.

"Err, no, um, thanks are necessary. And I don't mean to ruin the moment; but I _do_ need to go to work today," Giles said from between the two teens. "I was wondering – would you two like to come with me?"

"What do you mean?" Cordelia asked nervously, both she and Xander unwrapping their arms from around the Watcher.

"Would you like to come see Buffy and Willow at the library?" Giles asked carefully, as they walked back inside the building.

"Sure. But why now?" Xander replied, looking confused.

"Well…I thought perhaps that if you're willing, I-I-I would tell Principal Snyder you two were transfer students from, uh, Oxnard, let's say, and get Willow to come up with the appropriate documentation using that…that dread machine of hers. Given you're both underage and estranged from your families, it's important not to neglect your education; so you should return to school as soon as possible," Giles answered cautiously.

"Transfer students?" Cordelia looked like she had never even considered that scenario.

"Well, uh, while I hoped otherwise, the medallions haven't restored your original appearances," Giles pointed at them, and true enough – Xander and Cordelia still looked like Emmett and Rosalie Cullen. "And given your accents, I can't very well say th-that you two are my children from England, or anything like that."

"What about the bloodlust?" Xander asked Giles, not wanting to hurt anyone.

"Xander, it's been three weeks! We have that under control," Cordelia said, her hope rising.

"And what if we come across a singer, Cordy, what then?" Xander said wearily.

"I don't care! I want my life back, Xander," Cordelia said, folding her arms underneath her impressive bust. "Sure, I don't look like me yet – but now, with these medallions, I finally have an opportunity to do more than just sit around the house and wait for nightfall before I dare show my new face anywhere!"

Sighing, Xander looked at Giles and said, "Fine, we visit the library – today. Assuming Will can come up with the goods, we'll decide on the transfer student thing by, say, Friday. Deal?"

Giles nodded and Cordelia nodded joyfully as well, she knew she could persuade the geek to come around to her point of view before Wednesday. 'Piece of cake! I know he misses not seeing the freak and the nerd every day, after all...'

Insisting that Giles fully see their new home before he went to work, Cordelia gave him the tour. The Watcher was somewhat impressed with Xander's carpentry skills in building two bedrooms within the basement floor. He was likewise impressed with the walk-in wardrobe on the left side of the building, next to Cordelia's pseudo-bedroom.

"It's all designer, too," Cordelia gushed proudly.

'I've made her happy, just by giving her space for her clothes and shoes,' Xander thought, seeing Cordelia finally be herself again. 'Kinda weird, really. Then again, I figure I'll never actually understand women...'

Showing Giles his area containing his comics and Sci-fi collectables next to his walk-in wardrobe, Xander subsequently turned around to look at the Watcher's face. Seeing Giles' expression, he huffed and said, "Hey, Cordy made me build it!"

"Yeah, Geekboy, because I wasn't gonna have you walking around in rags, or those damn Hawaiian shirts!" Cordelia's voice resonated back to him.

"Hey, don't you mock the Hawaiian shirt! It's a fashion statement all its own!" Harris yelled back at her.

"Sure, one that says 'I'm still stuck in the Eighties!' God, what is _wrong_ with you?" Cordelia shot back at him.

Xander did not deign to reply to that one. Giles just did his best to stifle a chuckle as they went to the upper floor, whereupon Xander showed Giles the games room and guest rooms.

Giles for his part chuckled as they went to the upper floor. Xander showed Giles the games room and 3 guest rooms.

"Ermm well I thought as we will be working with the wolves..I.. I mean Oz and the group that we should get to know each other" Xander said looking for Giles reaction.

"That's an excellent idea Xander how will you cope with each other's smell" he asked.

Xander explained how the inner door would keeping the smell from their floor. Having desensitized the smell was not as bad now.

"Ah, I see"

"I, uh, Giles – do ya think Buffy and Willow might want to stay over, sometime?" Xander asked, looking unsure.

"Y...o..you too" Xander stammered nervously.

Giles was stunned and wrap an arm around Xander telling the boy he would love to stay one night.

"As for Buffy and Will I think possibly, but their parents would most likely ask where such a, um, sleepover would be held," Giles cogitated. "Which means introducing yourself to them; not as Xander Harris, of course, but as – well, whatever pseudonym you eventually decide to use. Err, have you given any thought to that, by the way? What names you and Cordelia will be using, I mean?"

"Well, I can't call myself Emmett, that's for sure; just like Cordelia can't call herself Rosalie. We look way too much like the Twilight saga characters for that," Xander grumbled. "Yeesh, I don't know. We'll think of something, I guess. Maybe use our middle names..."

"Which are?"

"Lavelle and Elizabeth," Xander shrugged.

"Those are, um, possibilities, I-I-I suppose," Giles shrugged. "And your surnames?"

"Anything apart from Harris and Chase. Oh, and Cullen, too," Xander said firmly.

With Xander feeling more upbeat, they returned to Cordelia. Giles then left after Xander and Cordelia had reassured him that they would be at the library at 5 pm.

"So. What are we gonna do all day, until five o'clock?" Xander asked his roommate somewhat foolishly, before mentally cringing at asking such a thoughtless question.

"What do you think, dorkhead? You're taking me _shopping_!" Cordelia said gleefully, literally dragging him out the door by the arm.

'Me and my big mouth...' Harris grumbled, not looking forward to this. "Okay, but need I remind you how we're kinda low in the money department, right now? I had to spend a lot of our cash on our recent basement construction project!"

"So we hit a few more vamp nests beforehand, rob them of any cash and valuables they have after dusting those soulless demons! Now come on, mister, shake a leg!" Cordelia said crossly, despite holding Xander's hand in a firm, unshakeable grip. "On account of I'm in need of some _serious _retail therapy!"

'The things I do to keep her happy,' Xander continued to grumble to himself, nonetheless allowing himself to be led away from his new home.

After all, there was a chance his roommate would be visiting Victoria's Secret, and he certainly wouldn't mind being Cordy's packhorse for the day if it meant seeing her wear nothing but that sort of underwear...

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Sunnydale High Library – 5:00 pm, Monday

Buffy and Willow were sitting at the research table basking in the last of the sunlight coming in through the windows, talking about Angel, and Giles was cataloging some material not far away. Smiling to himself, as Giles waited for Xander and Cordelia's arrival he turned to Buffy and suggested she do some sparring against the training dummy. A shrug and a nod later, Willow watched her best friend as she began to hit the dummy as hard as she could.

Buffy was executing some vigorous moves, when a familiar voice caused her strike to the dummy's heart to miss completely. "Hey, Buff. Will. Any chance you can give me a hand with all these bags?"

Looking around, Buffy saw her Xander-shaped friend – well, her Emmett Cullen-shaped friend – standing within the library with the sun streaming in from the window. Xander was standing in the daylight – WITHOUT sparkling like a diamond! Buffy's jaw dropped and Willow likewise sat just there, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

"Okay, I guess not," Xander shrugged, before letting all of Cordy's shopping bags fall onto the floor.

"HEY! Who gave you permission to just dump my stuff like that, dweeb?" Cordelia demanded, appearing out of nowhere the same way Xander had just done.

"I did. Because in case you haven't noticed, Cordy, I'm your roommate. Not your personal slave," Xander snapped at her.

"That still doesn't give you the right to just toss my stuff aside like garbage!" Cordelia glared at him.

"Really? Well, keep going with that attitude, Queen C, and next time – not even dragging me into that Victoria's Secret store is gonna prevent me from ditching you, the very first moment we even _get_ to the mall," Xander retorted.

"You. Wouldn't. Dare," Cordelia turned the full force of her imperious glare upon him. Deep down, though, Cordelia made a mental note how parading around semi-naked in that lingerie store obviously wasn't enough to keep Harris obedient to her every whim. Even though he had certainly seemed to enjoy himself there, earlier today...

"HELLO? What's going on here?!" Buffy demanded, finally getting a word in edgeways.

"Yeah, you two are standing in the sunlight, but-but, you're not sparkling, the-the way you did before," a semi-dazed Willow babbled.

"Oh, yes, I-I forgot to mention what I learned about those medallions Xander acquired, didn't I? Err, if you two wouldn't mind demonstrating...?" Giles gestured at Xander and Cordelia.

The two sparkle-pires looked each other then promptly removed the talismans from around their throats – and straightaway, their skins turned marble-white again. At the same time both members of the undead club started to sparkle madly from the rays of sunshine impacting upon their bodies, causing the mortals to gaze avidly at the glittering spectacle.

Not far away, Angel likewise stared at the sight in complete disbelief...

TBC...

A/N: DUN DUN DUN. Next chapter up in a few days! I will be focusing on the events of 'What's My Line', which I hope you'll like. Beware, though, not all will be as it was on the show...


	24. Chapter 24: A New Era Dawns

A/N: Angel will be dusted, as some reviewers have requested, but not right now and later, as Angelus. Thank you once again to my wonderful beta reader Starway Man for his support and encouragement.

"Speech"

'Thought'

_'Pack Mental Communication'_

Chapter 24 – A New Era Dawns

Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale – 9:00 am, Monday

Principal H.R. Snyder glared at the pair of teenagers sitting across from him, on the other side of his desk. He always hated having to deal with new arrivals partway through the semester, and this time was no exception.

"So..." Snyder drawled, his beady little eyes staring at the dark-haired boy and the blonde-haired girl before looking down at the (manufactured) paperwork. "You two have just transferred here to Sunnydale High. From Oxnard."

"Yeah,", "That's right, Principal Snyder," Xander and Cordy replied at the same time, instinctively holding hands during this unpleasant little 'interview'.

"Lavelle Curtis and Elizabeth...Giles," Snyder read out the fake names. "Oddly enough, we have a librarian from England here named Giles; Rupert Giles, I believe his name is. Any relation?"

"Not as far as I know, Principal Snyder," Cordelia said, thanking her lucky stars that the obnoxious tyrant didn't recognize her as someone straight out of the Twilight movies; Xander too. Still, maybe she _should_ have chosen a different surname a week ago, when Willow had begun creating her fake identity...

"Is there, like, some sort of problem, sir?" Xander asked, trying to disguise his ingrained loathing of the little troll. "'Cause I was kinda hoping Liz and I could make it to our first class this morning, y'know..."

'I don't like this. I'm not sure _who_ exactly, but this little punk reminds me of someone I'm _sure_ I've met before! The mannerisms, the accent; it's all way too familiar. Something's just not right about this,' Snyder thought to himself suspiciously. Then he put all that a side and said, "Alright, Curtis, Miss Giles, you can go. Just remember; I will not tolerate any sort of disorder or trouble-making around here! I'll be keeping an eye on you, so for both your sakes, don't screw up," the high school principal said warningly, an unfriendly look upon his face.

"Thank you for your advice, Principal Snyder. We'll keep it in mind," Cordelia said sweetly, dragging Xander up out of his chair. "You have a nice day, now."

"What she said, Principal Snyder," Xander gritted out as they exited the high school commandant's office. When they were safely out of earshot, Harris muttered, "Goddamn bastard..."

"Oh, relax. It could have been worse," Cordelia told him, feeling happy now that she was an official student here again. She was looking forward to resuming her place at the top of the school's social pyramid as she said, "Besides, it's over and done with. We finally have our lives back, if not our own faces, so stop whining – and let's get to first period!"

'Great. First period, which is History. Too bad I can't fall asleep anymore,' Xander thought resentfully, as Cordelia dragged him towards class. 'Maybe this whole 'going back to school' thing was a actually big mistake...'

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Elsewhere in Sunnydale High, 10:00 am

Willow walked along the corridor to the common area, on her way to meet Buffy. Feeling happier than she'd been for nearly a month, the redhead made her way towards her best friend after signing the list for Career Week and grabbing the questions form.

'I can't believe how just a while ago, I didn't even _know_ Oz,' she thought happily, thinking of her new boyfriend. Seeing Buffy seated alone at a table, brow furrowed, Willow joined her. "Hey, Buff!"

"Hey, Will," Buffy didn't even look up at her.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked, looking concerned.

"It's this stupid career day form," Buffy replied, slamming her pen onto the table.

"What about it?"

"No matter what my aptitude test says, we already know my deal," Buffy complained.

Hearing a voice behind them, the girls turned to witness Andrew say, "Yep. High risk, high reward, unsung hero type deal."

"Plus, expert on point-y wooden things," Jonathan added, sitting next to him.

"Hey, guys. Where's Oz?" Willow asked, leaning around the boys searchingly.

"Sorry, Will, he had a meeting. With Xander and Cordelia," Andrew explained, knowing the imprintee was missing his Alpha.

Willow smiled at Andrew; she was glad to see Jonathan too. Buffy, for her part, grumpily folded her arms and most ignored the two werewolves as she glared at her test paper. Ignoring the Slayer, the two boys congratulated Willow on her forged documents.

But then Andrew and Jonathan cringed, when the highly annoying voice of Harmony Kendall reached their ears. Even Willow and Buffy sighed in resignation.

"'I aspire to help my fellow man.' Check. As long as he's an Italian fashion model, a Hollywood hunk, or someone who can keep me supplied with money and jewellery for the rest of my life," Harmony tittered as she ticked her form. As she came level with the table, Harmony turned to Aphrodesia and the other Harmonettes.

"Hey, look, it's the new geek squad," the blonde cheerleader laughed derisively, pointing at the werewolves, the Slayer and the hacker.

Warren appeared behind her and joined his packmates and the girls. He responded sarcastically, "Hey look, it's Harmony Kendall; the lame-ass pretender to Cordelia Chase's throne."

The newly crowned Queen H replied snottily, "Cordelia who? In case you haven't noticed, creep, she disappeared a month ago; and I'M in charge now!"

The blonde flounced off, with her sheep following after her bleating some nonsense or other. Turning to his packmates, Warren greeted each one before nodding to Buffy and Willow.

"Ya think biting Harmony would get us into trouble?" Jonathan asked quietly.

"Nah, too much plastic," Andrew sniggered.

Everyone burst out laughing, apart from Buffy, who simply smiled reluctantly. That earned the gang funny looks from the students around them.

"Sorry guys, just had a vision of a dog eating a Barbie," Willow gasped, holding her ribs. That quickly made all the other students ignore the social leper colony.

"So, whatcha ya doing?" Jonathan asked the redhead.

"Career Week aptitude test," Willow replied chirpily.

"Ah, yeah, we need to do ours too," Andrew said, brandishing his form.

Groaning, Warren face-palmed. "Do I have to?"

"Boss's orders," Andrew said, hitting Warren with his rolled up form.

"Urgh, yeah, I know," Warren replied, reluctantly getting to work.

"I don't know why I'm bothering; unless Hell freezes over and every vamp in Sunnydale puts in for early retirement, I'd say my future is pretty much a non-issue," Buffy confessed quietly to Willow, again ignoring the werewolves.

"Hey, what are we doing; trash collecting?" the miffed pack brothers said in unison.

"Sorry, guys," Buffy replied bashfully, she was a little bit regretful that she had offended them. She was also kind of jealous, seeing the pack's interaction with each other and Willow.

Each teen began filling in the forms that could possibly define their future, and just chatted once in a while even if Buffy stayed quiet, thinking. After Andrew had filled his form in he went to his locker in the gym area, to get a DVD Willow had asked for.

As he reached into his locker, though, Andrew was yanked back and slammed violently into another locker.

'I should have known it wouldn't last,' Andrew thought, mentally sighing as he looked into the snarling face of Larry Blaisdell.

"Wells, I've been waiting to catch you alone for quite a few weeks now," the quarterback growled, pushing him harder into the locker.

'Huh. Didn't think he would last this long before trying the same old routine, actually,' Andrew thought. Remembering his Alpha's words from a few weeks ago, Andrew summoned his courage and newfound confidence. "Don't you remember my Al…Oz's warning?" he said, kicking himself at his near slip-up.

"Oh, screw him and the horse he rode in on! Oz tries anything, and I'll kick his ass. But first off, Wells, I'm gonna kick yours!" Larry said, glaring hatefully at Andrew. Like all bullies, the only thing he could understand was violence; and since Xander hadn't been around for the past month or so for Larry to vent upon, he could no longer prevent himself from targeting Andrew like this, despite the threat potential.

Noticing a new smell in the air, Andrew looked around. He was confused just what that scent was.

"What? Looking for your boyfriend?" the jock laughed derisively. A few seconds later, growling at being ignored, Larry pulled his arm back to punch the shape-shifter in the face.

Andrew ducked at the last moment as the blow arrived, bending his knees, causing Larry to dent the locker behind him; as well as unleash a yelp of pain from his fist getting hurt. Andrew then felt Larry tighten his grip and knew he would have bruises from it. As the quarterback yanked Andrew up, the werewolf smelt something again, the source of which was Larry.

'What's that smell, wait, is that…oh…no…NO WAY!' Andrew thought, sniffing the air surreptitiously. 'URGH, he is, he's aroused…oh man, I think I'm gonna hurl,' Andrew cogitated, quite alarmed at the thought of an aroused Larry.

Larry, tired of this little runt ignoring him, roared angrily as he aimed his fist at the Beta's head again. Knowing the previous trick wouldn't work twice, Andrew gritted his teeth as he began to shudder, making the lockers rattle.

"What the hell, Wells, you FREAK?!" yelled a bewildered and spooked Larry, hearing the lockers rattle.

Hearing the one word he really hated, Andrew shuddered and shook further as he grabbed Larry's fist, desperately trying to not phase there and then. There were too many students and teachers and Career Week people around, damn it. Andrew gritted his teeth, pushing down the instinct to morph into his wolf form. He then tightened his grip on Larry's fist until the guy yelped in pain, falling to his knees.

Grabbing the jock's arm, Andrew slammed him in to the very locker the bully had used to pin him against, twisting Larry's arm behind his back. Struggling but to no avail, Larry's eyes widened when he realized his intended victim was actually fighting back – and winning. Quickly finding himself pinned by his throat and unable to move, the bully suddenly looked shocked, his eyes wide with fear.

'I'm surprised he hasn't pissed himself yet,' Andrew thought, part of him happy to have the boot on the other foot. Grinning wolfishly he then thought, 'I'm not hurting, in fact I'm already healed, boy; do I LOVE the new me!"

Larry gulped at seeing the feral look in Andrew's eyes and shuddered at the growls coming from the younger teen. "What the fuck are you-"

"We need to talk, Larry, or I WILL let people know that you have other reasons for beating guys up, apart from liking to pick on people who can't fight back," Andrew growled, showing his teeth and earning another shudder from the bully.

"O-okay," Larry stammered, the blood draining from his face. 'Ah, crap, now I'm in for it..."

Ten minutes later, a whistling Andrew nonchalantly strolled into his next class, leaving behind a shaken ex-bully and a vow of secrecy concerning his newly acknowledged homosexuality. Feeling more at peace with himself than he had in a long time, Andrew entered the classroom. Greeting his pack brothers with a grin, he took his seat. Seeing the guys raise an eyebrow and the questioning look in their eyes, Andrew silently indicated he would tell them later.

Sitting down next to Warren and Jonathan, he looked around and noticed he couldn't see Willow who usually arrived early and he began to worry slightly.

"She's in a career fair meeting with Oz," Jonathan whispered such that no one could hear.

"Thanks," Andrew replied, releasing the tension that had built up in his body.

"Yeah, Snyder grabbed both of them and escorted 'em someplace," Warren whispered on his left.

"I saw a waiter enter with canapés, betcha Willow will love 'em," Jonathan grinned.

Hearing their teacher enter the room, the three werewolves quickly turned their attention to Miss Hartridge as she started talking about the Civil War.

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Warehouse District – 11:10 am

"It's…Latin, but...it's not," Dalton stammered, reading the book that had been procured from Giles weeks ago. "I'm not sure if it's even a language..."

Hostile and impatient after a week of effort and zero results, Spike slammed his fist on the table next to the manuscript and growled at his translator. "So MAKE it a language!" he snarled, grabbing the bookish vampire by his shirt and lifting him out of his seat.

The stuttering Dalton was saved by the voice of Spike's paramour. Standing at the head of the large table, Drusilla turned her attention from the three Tarot cards in front of her. "Spike-y, come dance with me," she cooed.

"Can't you see I'm working, love?" William the Bloody snapped.

Dru whimpered, folding her arms around her. Sighing, Spike slammed Dalton back into his chair and crossed the room. "I'm sorry, kitten," he soothed Dru, taking her in his arms.

Drusilla whimpered, grasping her head. "I need to change Miss Edith."

Seeing his love in such a condition tore at the undead former poet. Sorrowfully, Spike soothed his princess, "I'm sorry, love. It's that bloody Slayer, y'know, every time I turn around she's there..."

Dru gripped him as tight as she could in her weakened state, and moaned weakly. Recalling Drusilla's words after the Akjin fiasco, Spike took her to their bedroom and placed Dru onto the bed. "Stay with her, anything happens; YOU'LL pay," he warned a terrified trembling minion.

Exiting the room, Spike strode through the warehouse to find Lucius. "Contact the Order," he barked at his lieutenant, finding him with Dalton.

"The Order of Taraka?" Dalton stammered in shock.

"Yes, THEM!" Spike growled, as Lucius rushed to obey his orders.

"Uh, Spike, don't you think that's a bit overkill?" Dalton replied nervously. He knew exactly how expensive it was to hire those people, after all.

Grinning manically, Spike looked at Dalton, "No, I think it's just enough kill. Now get back to work, you git! I want results!"

Dalton did not dare glance in his boss's direction, as he got back to work on the Du Lac manuscript. He knew the odds were that if he didn't translate the text, he'd get staked with extreme prejudice; even though without the Du Lac Cross, which Drusilla had failed to mention just now, the task was pretty much hopeless.

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Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale – 1:23 pm

Xander wasn't happy, as he barged into the library and headed straight for the fridge in Giles' office, which he'd taken the precaution of stocking with blood bags yesterday. And very wisely, too.

Computer Science had been cancelled because the teacher wasn't there, English was boring, Spanish was incomprehensible, and History just made him zone out completely. 'How did I forget just how much I _hate _high school? I can't believe that right now, I'd rather be shopping at the mall with Cordelia!'

"UGGGHHHH!" Cordelia likewise came storming into the library with a huge scowl on her face. Giles wisely ignored her, as she headed straight for the fridge in his private office as well.

"What's wrong, Cor?" Xander asked, upending a bag of blood into his mouth.

"Gimme one of those," the blonde vampires growled, disliking the cold pig's blood but gulping it down without hesitation. "Guess I forgot how 'lunch' means something different for us, than it does for everyone else at this school..."

"Yeah, me too. I had to ditch everyone at the cafeteria and head over here, it's not like the lunch lady woulda been willing to serve me some O-neg," Xander shrugged. "So, how's it goin' on your first day back?"

"Horrible. No one pays any attention to me, the way they should!" Cordelia complained. "All my so-called friends just follow Harmony around, and agree with everything she says. God, I'm glad I was never that bad..." Then she saw Xander turn away with an almost hidden-smirk. "What? WHAT? Oh God, don't tell me _I_ actually acted like that?"

"Hmm, now, let me see if I can recall some of the Cordelia Chase classics. Oh, right, there was 'Hello, Miss Motor-mouth, can I get a word in?' 'What about me? What about MY pain?' And then there's the classic, 'Senior boys are the only way to go...'" Xander said, trying to maintain a straight face.

"SHUT UP!" Cordelia shouted, looking upset. "All right, so I might have said all that and more. But I'm NOT as bad as Harmony! Am I?" the young woman suddenly asked her roommate uncertainly.

"No, of course not," Xander said, regretting his minor prank now as he gave her a quick hug. "And ya know why? Because there's a real brain behind that beautiful face, Cordy. Always has been. Harmony's a follower; but you're a leader. I bet that if you try, you'll have ousted her from her position by the time Christmas rolls around. A few days after the New Year's break, tops. Just keep in mind, no one really knows 'Elizabeth Giles' yet; but they will soon. Oh boy, will they ever," Xander nodded.

"Really? You think so?" Cordelia asked with uncharacteristic uncertainty.

"I know so," Xander affirmed. "Betcha all the guys are the football team are already planning on asking you out on a date, now that they've gotten a look at you in class! And kinda odd how no one's said anything about how much we look like those movie stars, huh? Must be that Sunnydale Denial Syndrome or something..." Xander mused, before gulping down another bag of blood.

'Oh my God,' Cordelia thought to herself, before forcing her mind to go blank. She did not want Xander to overhear her thinking how she didn't some meathead linebacker asking her out to the Bronze or whatever. The blonde did not even want to acknowledge that Xander was the only guy she wanted to date these days, but as Harris had sort of said; Miss Chase had never been one of the sheep who lived in denial around here.

'I've fallen for a guy who doesn't love me,' Cordelia thought to herself, unable to help acknowledging that. She knew all about Xander's 'thing' for Buffy, and upon realizing the absurdity of the situation, she simply finished off her blood meal and left the librarian's private office.

Sparkle-pires couldn't cry, after all. Miss Chase didn't realize however that the young man she had left behind in the library felt the same as she did.

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Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale – 4:00 pm

Oz marched through the corridor on his way to meet Andrew, lost in the memories of an afternoon spent with Willow. Not only during the meet with the corporate suit people, but afterwards as well. 'Man. My imprint's smart, beautiful…and one heck of a good kisser!'

As he walked, someone roughly pushed him aside, bringing Oz's attention back to the present. He turned to see a furious Tucker storming through the now-empty hallway. 'That can't be good,' Oz thought way too calmly.

Following Wells from a distance, he heard a body slamming into concrete. His werewolf hearing then picked up the sound of voices.

"You FREAK, what did you do to Larry?!" Oz heard Tucker say furiously.

"Nothing, Tucker!" replied a scared voice.

'That's Andy, no one hurts MY pack,' Oz thought, recognizing that voice and uncharacteristic fury filled the gentle guitarist.

The sound of fist meeting flesh meant Andrew had most likely hit the floor – again. The sad fact was that Andrew could have dealt with Tucker just like he'd dealt with Larry; but then abused children were often incapable of doing such things. Mentally rather than physically incapable, that is. Oz ran around the corner in time to see Tucker kick his brother again in the ribs, followed by a pain-filled yelp from Andrew.

Hearing footsteps, Tucker turned and snapped at Oz, "Who the hell are-" But then a fist in his face sent the older Wells brother tumbling away.

Andrew gingerly raised his head. Oz saw in Andrew's eyes relief, and a flicker of fear, which he filed away for later. _'You okay?'_ the Alpha asked mentally.

'_Yeah,'_ Andrew replied, his eyes pleading with the Alpha not to hurt his brother. Well, not too much.

"Tucker," Oz growled, approaching him.

"WHAT?" the older Wells brother snarled.

"What the hell did you think you were doing just now?" Oz demanded, fighting the instinct to rip this pathetic creature apart, knowing that Andrew didn't want that.

"None of your business!" the hate-filled Tucker replied.

"You can talk, or you can get my fist in your face again. And next time, I won't pull my punch," Oz replied, glancing down at Andrew; who just looked away, uncertain what to do or what to say.

Stepping rapidly forward, Oz gripped Tucker's arm; and when the werewolf didn't feel Tucker submit to the Alpha's authority he gripped harder. Grimacing, Tucker stepped away, rubbing his arm and glaring at Oz.

Andrew raised himself to his feet as Tucker spat vehemently, "He did something to Larry, I know he did!"

Raising an eyebrow, Oz just simply looked at Tucker like he was an idiot. "You're beating up your own brother because that guy isn't doing it for you? Maybe I ought to tell the guidance counsellor about this conversation."

"You're Osborne, aren't you? My aunt said Andrew moved in with you. Not that I care, the useless FREAK is-" Tucker abruptly choked and gurgled as Oz grabbed the other senior's pinkie finger and pulled. Hard.

"Larry tried it again, huh? You okay?" Oz asked Andrew, ignoring Tucker's squealing.

"Yeah," Andrew whispered dejectedly.

"Is he hurt?" Oz asked simply, an eyebrow raised.

"No," Andrew shook his head.

Nodding, Oz squeezed Andrew's shoulder in support as he finally let go of Tucker. "You did good," he praised his second-in-command.

Drawing strength from his Alpha's words, Andrew raise his head and looked at a shocked Tucker. Glaring at both boys, Tucker opened his mouth to no doubt spew out more of his venomous spiel.

"Listen up. If you ever hurt Andrew again, I will find you. I will take you into the woods at night. I'll kill you, and they will never, ever find the body," Oz said far too calmly, his body language letting Tucker know he meant every word.

Snorting, Tucker pointed viciously at Andrew. "He HURT Larry!" the older Wells yelled brother, still pathetically stuck on that.

"Did Larry tell you that?" Oz replied.

"No, but-" Tucker started to say.

"Then we're done here," Oz replied, before the six-foot eight inch young man grabbed Tucker's finger again and wrenched it so hard that this time, bones broke. "And since I know guys like you simply don't listen, I'm going into Miller's Woods to dig your grave tomorrow night. I catch you around Andrew again, soon enough I will bury you there. Do you understand that, or do I need to break more fingers in order to drive that lesson home?"

Oz subsequently led Andrew away, leaving behind a seething Tucker who was still clutching his broken hand painfully. Oz slung his arm around the younger teen who laid his on his Alpha's shoulder. Giving in to his wolf pack instinct, Oz rubbed Andrew's head with his own to sooth the younger teen.

Climbing into Oz's van, they left for home. After they'd left the parking lot and Andrew had calmed down, Oz asked, "Okay, what happened?"

Andrew proceeded to fill Oz in on everything that had happened today, with Oz nodding every now again. When Andrew had finished, Oz said, "You did good, I'm glad you stood up for yourself."

"You're not angry at me for warning Larry off?" Andrew asked, worried.

"Nah. I mean, he won't say anything. What with his little secret," Oz replied sagely.

"Don't remind me," Andrew briefly shuddered.

"Don't envy you that, smelling an aroused Larry," Oz commented.

"It was gross, Oz, I mean – man," Andrew smiled slightly.

After a few moments Oz asked gently, "What happened with Tucker?"

Bowing his head, Andrew took a deep breath. "He caught me in the hallway, and said he'd talked to Larry."

"Yeah?" Oz prompted.

"Tucker said when he moaned about me to Larry, the guy flinched; like he was, uh, scared of me," Andrew replied. "Then Tucker said he knew I'd done something to Larry through my…my…freakish powers. He said I…should never have been…born, and then…he wished that...I was…dead," Andrew finished, trying not to cry like a baby.

"You know that's not true, right?" Oz asked. "I know the guy's your brother, but people who say shit like that aren't family. That's why I meant what I said about if he ever hits you again, I'll get Jonathan and Warren together to bury him in the woods." He looked Andrew right in the eyes as he said that, letting the younger werewolf know he meant what he said.

"Oz…I know I could have taken him if I'd tried, but I-I mean, Tucker's my big brother. I just – I couldn't react the way I did with Larry this morning," Andrew said shakily, wiping a few tears away.

"I know," Oz replied stoically, even though on the inside he was very concerned and figured Andrew would need the entire pack tonight.

Arriving at the house, an emotional Andrew took a shower while Oz summoned Warren and Jonathan for a sleepover, knowing Andrew would need the comfort of his packmates.

Curiously enough, there was no sign of Tucker at school the next day...

A/N: In a real wolf pack, the members comfort each other; so I figure that touching and affection is okay for the boys, and when anyone of the pack has issues they will have each other to lean on. So expect lots of signs of affection if there is a wolf member that goes through a rough time.


	25. Chapter 25: Assasins Creed

A.N Thank you one again to my oh so very wonderful and amazing Beta.

"Speech"

'Thought'

_'Pack Mental Communication'_

Chapter 25 – Assassins Creed

Spike's Warehouse – 7:00 pm, Monday

Spike sat next to Drusilla, one leg thrown over the chair's arm. Drusilla sat at the table, flipping Tarot cards. As she flipped the last one over, she gasped and turned to Spike. During one of her more lucid moments, she said, "Oh, Spikey, look! A key. The book needs a key."

Spike moved quickly to her side. "A key, luv?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, my precious," Drusilla replied, showing him the card with the image of a mausoleum on it.

"Is that where we'll find it, pet?" Spike asked, placing his arm on the back of her chair.

"Yessss," was Dru's dreamy response.

Grinning, Spike replied, "I'll send the boys, pronto!"

Drusilla looked up at him and asked, "Now will you dance?"

Still grinning, Spike took her hand. "Of course I will, ducks; we'll dance together. On the Slayer's grave!"

The platinum-haired British vampire picked up a now-giggling Drusilla in his arms and they danced around the room, both vampires feeling happier than they had since Prague.

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Restfield Cemetery, Sunnydale – 11:00 pm

Warren was alone in this cemetery, with Oz, Jonathan and Andrew having split up to cover the other cemeteries in this town. Well, he was the only werewolf present, anyway; Warren's paws thudded along with Xander running alongside him, testing out his mental walkie talkie.

'Can you still hear everyone, Xander?' Warren asked.

'Yeah, Oz just took out three vamps and Cordelia is moaning about demon blood messing up her clothes,' he silently chuckled.

'Right,' Warren replied. 'Not all that surprised, actually.'

'Hey, what's that?' Xander suddenly demanded, skidding to a halt.

'What's…' Warren began to say, before trailing off as a banging reached his ears.

The supernatural duo trailed the noise to a mausoleum. Using his enhanced hearing, Xander realized that whoever was in there, he didn't have a heartbeat. 'Dude, there's a vamp in there.'

'Doing what?' Warren responded.

'Digging, it sounds like,' Xander replied.

'Yeah, and I think he brought a friend,' Warren projected, smelling another soulless vampire nearby.

The vampire Warren spoke of appeared behind Xander, intending to attack – before an elbow jab to the face sent him flying away. Xander and Warren were then interrupted by the appearance of the vampire from within the mausoleum, whose name was Dalton.

'You get Indiana Jones, and I'll get Mr. Silent,' Xander said to his werewolf companion.

Xander turned and rushed after the first vampire. Warren turned to get the Dalton; only to find he had somehow disappeared. Running around the graveyard tracking his prey availed him nothing.

Xander quickly reappeared. 'I took the other vamp out, you good?'

"No, I lost him. He ducked into one of the sewers before I could grab him," Warren admitted guiltily, after phasing back to human form.

"There's a lot of places vamps can hit the sewers around here. Next time," Xander replied, nudging the werewolf's shoulder.

Warren looked downcast so he phased back into the wolf and they both did another run of the graveyard, with Warren dispelling his frustration by dusting a few more vampires.

"Giles needs to know about this; I'll go let him know," Xander said, after watching Warren take out a newbie fledgling.

Huffing and letting out a loud growl, the wolf looked at him and nodded. 'I'll give Oz the news,' Warren thought at his undead companion, and then the pair then parted company.

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Spike's Warehouse – 11:10 pm

Spike stood over Drusilla, who was resting in their bed. A ruffled and panicked Dalton rushed in, carrying what looked like the object Spike needed to restore his love to her full strength.

Placing the item on to a red velvet pillow gilded in yellow braiding, Dalton stepped back. Uncaring of his minion's fear permeating the room, Spike carefully unwrapped the item and sat on the bed, holding the pillow out to Dru. Laid within the cloth was a large gold cross, ornately decorated.

Sucking in an unneeded breath, Spike looked at Drusilla. "Well, luv?"

The vampiress closed her eyes, held her hand above the cross and hummed. "It sings to me, Spike," Drusilla said, still humming a happy tune.

"When you're well again, poodle, we'll have your coronation down Main Street and blood will run like a river," the grinning Spike promised, putting the pillow on the bed and kissing his sire deeply.

"Uh, Spike? One of those werewolves, it almost caught me at the cemetery a few minutes ago. There was some guy with it as well, they nearly blew the whole thing," the still-shaken Dalton spoke up, prompting Spike to growl at the mood killer.

"You don't SAY?" he snapped at the translator. Shrinking back, Dalton cowered beneath the Master vampire, who looked ready to stake him in frustration.

"Spike, no," Drusilla said, causing Spike to stop and look at her. "It's not his fault, it is. Nasty dogs bark, and my Kitten smells awful."

Sighing, Spike gave Dalton a withering look. "The Order'll deal with the Slayer, but what to do about them dogs – and whoever's with 'em," he mused, as he sent Dalton scurrying from the room. "LUCIUS!" Spike then bellowed for his second in command.

When the vampire in question entered the room, Spike turned to him. "I want the boys watching them werewolves, and whoever's with 'em," he ordered.

Lucius nodded and sent for some minions, before he gave them Spike's latest order. A maliciously grinning Spike then said to no one in particular, "After all, sooner or later a mutt'll return to its master," he laughed evilly.

Lucius cleared his throat. "Errrm, boss, the people from the Order have arrived."

Roaring with laughter Spike cheerfully replied, "Well, isn't that just neat? Right then, tell 'em to go at it, find Betty and kill her!"

Drusilla giggled at her childe's laughter, as Spike motioned for Lucius to take the Du Lac Cross and store it somewhere safe.

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Sunnydale Library – 5:00 pm, Tuesday

Everyone was gathered at Slayer Central, waiting for Giles and Buffy to arrive. Xander and Oz were talking, as the Alpha's wolf pack mock-wrestled on the training mats.

"Shoulda tried to find out what the wannabe Indiana Jones was up to last night, at that mausoleum. Giles got all 'you made no effort to find out what was taken?' after I banged on his front door last night," Xander filled Oz in.

"Coulda been an over-reaction," Oz replied, watching his pack. Willow then appeared and snuggled into his side. Xander sniggered as he witnessed Mr. 'I Don't Usually Show Emotions' break into a wide grin.

"Sorry, pal, it's just the shock factor from actually seeing you smile," Xander said in response to Oz's raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I dunno. Guess I'm kinda balancing the old me with Jacob's memories, nowadays I show my emotions a bit more," Oz responded.

"I know the feeling," Xander replied, as he looked at Cordelia sitting at the nearby table and painting her nails. 'Boy, do I ever.'

The conversation ended when Giles entered through the double doors, but without Buffy. Oz whistled sharply, stopping the pack's wrestling. Nodding, Giles filled the group in on what he and Buffy had discovered.

"The vampires targeted a reliquary, a-a place used to store items of religious value. The one they broke into was for Joseph Du Lac, who belonged to a sect with formers ties to the Vatican."

"Oh, joy, a religious nut job," Cordelia said scathingly. She was still upset how everyone was kow-towing to Harmony, after all.

"Yes…well, he was excommunicated at the turn of the century, and sent to Sunnydale," Giles added.

"They must have _really_ hated that guy," Xander quipped, trying to break the sudden tension within the room.

"Quite," Giles nodded with a brief smile. "The thing is, does everyone remember that book which was stolen a few weeks back?" Most of the group nodded, having heard the story from Willow. "Well, it was written by Du Lac, and was said to contain spells of unspeakable evil. However, it's written in an archaic Latin."

"Is that a good thing?" Warren asked.

"I guess. Unless someone can read it, right Giles?" Willow asked next.

"Yes, um, that's correct, Willow," Giles replied, ignoring how Oz immediately kissed his imprint on the cheek, whispering in her ear how smart she was – and thus causing Willow to let out a little giggle.

"Giles, are you sure the book and the stolen item are connected?" Xander asked.

"It stands to reason, Xander. The item stolen was the Du Lac Cross, which can be used to understand the archaic text of the book, or-or to decipher its hidden meanings."

"Like a decoder ring?" Jonathan and Andrew asked in unison.

Xander and Warren grinned at the two geeks. Cordelia rolled her eyes at the two teens. For his part, Giles started polishing his glasses and replied, "Yes, basically."

For the first time since the meeting had begun, Oz spoke loud enough to be heard by the group. "I'm thinking surgical strike, once we track down the vamps' lair."

"Yes, well, um, Oz, there i-i-is some merit in what you say," Giles replied slowly. "However, we need more information before charging in blindly. What was in that stolen manuscript, what exactly Spike intends to do, that sort of thing."

"In other words, you wanna do the whole research thing. Fine, whatever. Where's Buffy, though? She shouldn't have a free pass just because she's the Slayer, ya know," Cordelia grunted, having wondered where the blonde was since the meeting had started.

"Preparing for tonight's patrol, I imagine," Giles replied, looking distracted. No doubt he was already wondering which books to grab and share amongst the group of teenagers for the research party.

'Buffy's planning to get together with Deadboy tonight, then,' Xander thought in distaste.

'I know. It grosses me out too,' Oz replied. He stared at Willow, who looked away; she didn't want to reveal how Buffy and Angel were going ice-skating tonight on their date.

As it had always been meant to be, things were about to get a whole lot worse as the gang began to research. Giles pulled Xander aside to apologize for his over reaction the night before.

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Sunnydale Ice Palace – 7:00 pm

Buffy skated as she waited for Angel at the ice rink, a place her boyfriend had told her about last night in her bedroom; which was closed on Tuesdays, and thus available for her private use.

Buffy was in a thoughtful mood, as she recalled the previous evening's conversation. There had been many subjects covered, including Xander and Cordelia – and what exactly was the situation there. Buffy wasn't certain, but she was pretty sure Angel was now _afraid _of Xander, after learning what he and Cordelia had become after Halloween.

Because let's face it; that guy could kill Angel now without breaking a sweat. So could Cordelia. Not that she thought they would actually harm her boyfriend, but Buffy had to admit that it was unnerving to be dependent on someone else's good will, especially when Angel knew that 'someone' didn't particularly like him.

Caught in her thought, Buffy spun into a move she had learned in her childhood. Out of practice, the Slayer stumbled and fell, sliding into the barriers surrounding the rink.

As Buffy got back on her feet, a pair of thick, trunk-like arms reached from behind the barrier. Her breath immediately cut off, one arm grasped around her throat while the other hauled her backwards. Nonetheless, this did not prevent the Slayer from fighting her way free. She flipped the man onto the ice, but Buffy was surprised when the one-eyed man moved his body so as not to end up flat on his back.

"Gee, if you wanted to join me on the rink, all you have to do is ask," Buffy quipped at the long-haired man, her Slayersense telling her the cyclopean guy was not quite human.

The quip did not seem to accomplish what it usually did, though. Without a sound, the man known as Octarus moved impossibly fast, smashing a fist towards her head. As she grabbed the arm and twisted, Buffy noticed a gold ring on one of the man's fingers.

Unlike her usual opponents, Octarus was seemingly oblivious to the pain of having a twisted arm. His other arm shot out; Buffy ducked and weaved as they made their way further onto the ice.

Hearing a male voice yell the target's name behind him, Octarus turned around; only to see the vampire with a soul heading straight towards him. Backhanding a surprised Buffy away across the ice, the assassin turned to take the latest threat down. Charging at Octarus, Angel (in full vamp mode) barreled into him with a tackle that would make an NFL linebacker proud.

Octarus dug his heels in, though, throwing Angel back; who landed on his back. Landing on top of Angel, the assassin threw a punch, wounding the vampire above his eye. Angel head-butted Octarus in reply, pushing him backwards.

Landing with a grunt, the assassin quickly got back to his feet; but he was forced once again to the ground by a rage-filled Angel. Someone who, having just seen the ring on Octarus's finger, had renewed his efforts to take out the attacker.

"Buffy, RUN!" Angel yelled, seeing the Slayer having returned to the scene of battle. Naturally, though, she did no such thing.

Thinking quickly, Buffy unfastened one of her skates and then the other. Angel gritted his teeth as Octarus bucked like a stallion, fighting to get the vampire off his back.

The Slayer quickly bought her skate blade down on the assassin's throat, jumping back as blood gushed in a torrent from the inflicted wound. As the light left Octarus's eyes Angel stood up, blood dripping from his own head wound.

Plucking the ring off the dead man's hand, Angel paled further than a vampire could when he saw the ring marking the attacker as a member of The Order of Taraka. Angel had known true fear as a human in the 1700s; as a vampire, however, few things could scare the creature once known as Angelus, the Scourge of Europe.

The Order of Taraka was one of those 'few things'.

"Buffy, we need to get you out of here," Angel said urgently, looking around as the shadows might contain more assassins.

"You're hurt," Buffy gasped, running her fingers along his demonic ridges, not noticing how urgent he sounded.

"Don't. I don't want to see me like this," Angel replied, trying to ignore the thoughts of bloodlust and sexual desire whenever she touched him like that.

Bringing her hand to his cheek, Buffy turned her boyfriend's head back to face her and said, "I don't care. In fact, I never even noticed."

From the shadows, a pair of eyes watched as they tenderly kissed. The hidden figure was disgusted at she saw a human and a vampire in such an intimate embrace, not to mention astounded at how someone could love such a murderous creature.

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Sunnydale High – 8:00 am, Wednesday

All conversation immediately ended when Buffy entered through the double doors, followed by a solemn-looking Giles. Oz whistled sharply, once again stopping the pack's wrestling on the training mats. Xander and Oz shared a look upon seeing Giles enter the library.

'Wonder what's wrong with G-Man?' Xander thought.

'Dunno, but I think we're gonna find out,' Oz replied through the mental link.

"Giles, you okay?" Cordelia asked gently.

"Uh, give me a moment, Miss Chase," Giles replied, placing something in his hand under the magnifying glass.

The Watcher suddenly stilled, and all the pack (along with Cordelia and Xander) could smell fear coming from the Watcher in waves.

Inhaling and exhaling to calm himself, Giles stood and looked at the dumbstruck teens. Buffy for her part just sat quietly, not knowing what was wrong with her Watcher – although past experience told her that Giles's reaction was not good. Pushing all thoughts of that horrifying experience at the hands of the Master away, she focused once again on Giles. Unknowingly, Xander was thinking along the same line as the Slayer.

Because Giles' reaction and body language reminded Harris of something he would much rather forget. 'Oz, I've only seen him like this once before,' Xander thought to the Alpha werewolf.

'When?' came the response.

'The Master,' Xander replied shakily.

Oz knew what that meant, due to the stories he had heard from Xander and Cordelia. Willow stood and sat next Buffy, giving her moral support. Cordelia joined Xander, squeezing his arm in support. "Giles?" she said.

"Yes, um, well. Buffy, errr, informed me of an attack on her person last night," the Watcher said, removing his glasses and cleaning them.

"The guy who attacked was hardcore, people, and not quite human. He was powerful, I mean even Angel was power-freaked," Buffy said to the group.

'Ouch. Anything scaring Deadboy can't be good,' Xander thought, getting more worried by the minute and from the glances Oz was giving Willow, he wasn't the only one.

"Who was he?" Xander asked, taking in both Giles' and Buffy's expressions.

Swallowing hard, the Watcher spoke in a subdued voice whilst holding up the ring. "An assassin. The Order of the Taraka – only their members wear this particular ring."

"Which means what?" Willow asked.

"Xander, Cordelia, would it be possible for Buffy and her mother to stay at your home for a while?" Rupert asked both vampires.

"What?" Buffy demanded.

'What do you think, Cordy?' Xander asked her.

'Well, as much as we don't get along, I don't want Buffy dead or anything,' Cordelia replied with a mental sigh. 'Okay, whatever.'

"Giles, my mom's away in LA till Thursday. And I'll be fine, I DON'T need babysitting!" Buffy said, annoyed.

"Buffy, I need you to listen to me. These assassins, they're coming for you. They will not stop, either; they'll keep coming, one after the other, again and again – until you are dead," Giles warned her harshly.

"What's their MO?" Xander asked, fingering the medallion around his neck.

"Every assassin for the Order works alone, each in their own way. Some are human and, a-a-as Buffy discovered last night, some are not. You can't know who they are, until they strike," Giles replied.

'Extra patrols,' Xander and Oz thought at the same time.

"Well, there's gotta be something we can do, right?" Willow asked desperately.

"Willow, Buffy can slay as many of the Order's killers as you like; it, it won't make any difference," Giles replied. "Unlike vampires, these assassins have, have no earthly desires but to collect their bounty from a successful kill. The only way to-to stop them, is to get the contract rescinded. And not even the Council can arrange that..."

Buffy quickly broke under the strain of having her life under threat from a source of danger she could do nothing about. Standing, she bolted from the room. Xander stood to follow but Giles shook his head.

"Buffy just took off? I've never seen her like that," Willow said, looking shocked.

The school day quickly passed, with the Scooby Gang making sure there was at least one person with Buffy at all times. Oddly, no one seemed too interested in Career Week anymore, the threat of the Order having cast a pall over the festivities. Once the bell had rung indicating school was over for the day, Buffy bolted again, disappearing from view.

Walking together, Cordelia and Xander went to 1630 Revello Drive to see if the Slayer was home. Xander tried the doors and windows to see if they were open but with no success. He then looked up to see Cordy tapping her foot on the floor.

"Move over, Geekboy," she commanded him imperiously, the true Cordelia Chase shining through her Rosalie Cullen face.

Moving to one side, Xander watched as Cordelia put pressure on the front door; just enough to pop open the door's lock. As they entered the front of the house, they suddenly smelt something. Realizing the musty, earthy odor was coming from the front door, Cordelia stepped forward while Xander ducked into the lounge room.

"Hi there Miss, I'm from Blush Beautiful Skin Care and Cosmetics," the salesman said, holding what looked to Cordelia's practiced eye was a suitcase full of beauty products. "My name is Norman Pfister, may I interest you in some free samples?"

'Urgh, this guy reeks! Bleurgh,' Cordelia thought in distaste, even though she made sure not to let any sign of it show on her face.

'Yeah, I know; just get him in here, Cordy, he's clearly not human.'

Putting on her best fake smile Cordelia fully opened the door and welcomed the man in, while making idle chatter about her complexion and asking what he thought should be used. Once the door was firmly closed, she turned to Norman and demanded, "Okay, what's the deal? You can't be a real salesman, or you would have known the difference between summer and winter lipstick!"

The man simply smiled until Xander appeared behind him, shoving him up against the wall. "What ARE you?" demanded the furious vampire, inhaling deeply. "You're obviously not human!"

The man's smile faded as Norman dropped the suitcase. What happened next, though, surprised both Cordelia and Xander...

A/N: DUN-DUN-DUN. Cliffhanger. I know you hate me for doing a cliffy again, but I just can't help myself! More soon, I promise.


	26. Chapter 26: New Arrival

A/N: I am so, so sorry. I just caught up in my college work and left you guys hanging. Thank you to everybody who has stuck around.

Thank you once more to my amazing and wonderful Beta Starway Man take a bow my friend.

"Speech"

'Thought'

'Pack Mental Communication'

Chapter 26 – New Arrival

Summers residence – 4:00 pm, Wednesday

The man's smile faded as Norman dropped the suitcase. What happened next, though, surprised both Cordelia and Xander...

Namely, Norman turned into a bug man. A man made of bugs, that is.

Cordelia spotted some worms on the guy's jacket, and then she saw some come out of his ear. The worms dropped to the floor and began to crawl towards her, which then prompted the female teen to yelp and plunge her fist through Norman's torso. Cordy had realized that the man stood in front of her was not human, and so there was no need to treat him like one.

But instead of falling down dead, the thing in front of her simply looked at the hand protruding from its body and dissolved the area around it into worms.

"EWWWWWWWWW, GROSS!" Cordelia wailed, withdrawing her hand and frantically shaking it to get rid of the worms covering it.

Xander's eyes widened, as he witnessed what happened. Without thinking, he charged forward in a blur of motion and tore the thing's head off. He was just as shocked as Cordelia, though, as Norman's head disintegrated in his hands, leaving him holding a mass of squirming bugs. The rest of the thing's body also disintegrated where it stood, leaving behind a large pile of worms – one that started regrouping into the pseudo-salesman that had previously stood before them.

Releasing another chorus of "Ewww's!" and "Yuck's!", Cordelia proceeded to do what any other girl presented with a man-sized pile of worms would do. She started stomping on them, uncaring of the mess being created on the Summers family's carpet.

"Ewww, Ewww, GROSSS!" Cordelia complained, as her new Gucci shoes were spattered with bug goop.

Xander joined in at inhuman speed, stamping his feet on the bug pile to help Cordelia out. It seemed to be working; once stomped on, the worms ceased moving. Pretty soon, they were sure Norman was dead. And it must be said that stomping on the worm guy gave both Xander and Cordelia a great deal of satisfaction, although both knew at the back of their minds that the rest of the Tarakan assassins (assuming that was what this guy had been) probably would not be this easy.

Once it was clear the situation was taken care of, Xander looked around at the state of Mrs. Summers' foyer and said, "Cor, we gotta clean up in here before we go."

"Ya think?" Cordelia replied sarcastically, glaring at him for good measure. But she refrained from saying anything else, as the two sparkle-pires got to work and quickly cleaned up the mess.

Leaving the newly cleaned house, and ensuring both the door and the windows were locked, Cordelia turned to her roommate and said, "Major ick and ultimate 'ewwww', I can't believe I was forced to do that! Mister, you're buying me TWO pairs of Gucci shoes to make up for it," she complained.

"Fine, Cordy, okay - but would you mind trying to find Buffy and play bodyguard, please?" Xander said pleadingly, silently asking Cordelia to cease with the complaining.

'Wow he's actually begging me for something? Hmmm, never thought that would happen, and so serious too,' Cordelia thought, seeing the seriousness in Xander's face.

Rolling her eyes outwardly, the young woman who looked like Rosalie Cullen subsequently agreed to his request; knowing if Buffy was anywhere that men couldn't go, out of the two of them, she was the better option to safeguard the Chosen One. So they separated, and Xander headed back to Slayer Central.

When he got there Harris saw Giles looking through more books and Willow sleeping at the main table. 'That's odd, she must have had a bad day to be asleep at this time of afternoon...' Smiling at his sleeping friend, Xander gently arranged Willow so she was more comfortable. He laughed quietly when she mumbled about tadpoles.

Giles turned to Xander and asked quietly, so as not to wake Willow, "Did you talk to her?"

"Nope, sorry Giles. When we parted company, Cordelia started searching for the Buffster and she'll take first watch keeping a lookout for more weirdness," Xander said, feeling how Giles looked.

"Weirdness?" Giles asked with an upraised eyebrow.

Xander quickly told him all about the Worm Guy he and Cordy had encountered at Buffy's house.

"It's begun, then," Giles mumbled, even if Xander's vampire hearing let him understand quite clearly as the Watcher slumped into a chair.

Xander swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat. "Giles, what do we do?" he asked.

"I, I…I don't know, Xander, I just don't know," Giles sighed, rubbing his temples.

Sitting down next to the still-sleeping Willow, Xander tried to think of how they could protect Buffy from the assassins. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything other than taking them out one at a time, as they showed themselves in order to kill their target. And all it took was one mistake, one instinctive move to kill one of the Order's killers and leave Buffy exposed to another assassin, for that plan to end in bloody, messy death for the Slayer.

Suddenly, Giles stood up and rushed over to the book cage, frantically grasping and throwing books out of the cage, and waking up Willow. Just as shocked at the Watcher's treatment of his beloved books as he was at Giles' behavior, Xander rushed to his side.

"What is it?" the young man who looked like Emmett Cullen asked.

"I think I may have the answer," Giles replied frantically.

With a triumphant "Aha!" the Watcher rushed to the table where Willow was rubbing her eyes, and wondering what was going on. "Uh...Giles, what the..." the Rosenberg girl asked, kinda stunned.

"Willow, call Oz and tell him to bring his pack here!" Giles ordered her.

"Should I get Buffy and Cordelia?" Xander asked.

"No, you can fill Cordelia in later – but Buffy must stay out of danger, if she goes anywhere near the Order she'll be killed," Giles said, looking through a book.

Nodding, Willow grabbed her cell and speed-dialed her werewolf boyfriend. Within minutes, the pack was there having come from Oz's house – which, naturally enough, had been renamed The Lair by Andrew.

"Hey," the Alpha greeted everyone as he, Warren, Andrew and Jonathan came through the doors, but Oz quickly lost his smile at seeing the agitated Watcher. "What's up?"

Absently, Giles noticed Andrew looked better than he had in weeks. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and motioned for the boys to sit down. Getting straight to the point, Giles told the pack what Xander had told him, with Xander clarifying some points every now and then.

"So you see, two of them a-a-are down already. Usually a team of, of three are sent out per kill – but Xander and Cordelia, they, they may have taken the anger of the Order to another level," Giles explained.

"Because they killed one of the assassins, and they're not even the target?" Warren asked.

"That's right, Warren," Giles replied. Then he said to Oz, "How do you feel a-a-about killing something half-human that's a threat to Buffy, Cordelia and Xander? I only ask because of, err, how you feel about Buffy." Ignoring Willow's gasp, the Watcher kept his eyes on the Alpha wolf, waiting for Oz's reply.

"Giles, I don't hate Buffy. I just don't like her decisions, well, some of them. Now what is it you want us to do?" Oz asked firmly.

Placing the book on the table, Giles placed his hands on the table until all the group had seen the worst the Order had to offer. "The Order will know that something is, is guarding the Slayer. Not who or what," Giles said, looking at Xander.

"No offense, G-man, but I'm not who I was back on Halloween. Despite appearances I'm not Emmett, and quite frankly, I look forward to the challenge," Xander replied, with a slight predatory growl.

"I know, Xander, but…well, I still worry," the Watcher answered sadly. He left unspoken the fear that one day, he and Cordelia would possibly be hunted by the Watchers Council.

"I know you do, Giles, and I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say I love it that you care," the sparkle-pire replied with a loud chuckle and a small smirk.

"Yo guys, sorry to interrupt - but why are they sending this dude, if Xan and Cor have already shown they can kick assassin ass?" Andrew piped up.

Giles exhaled loudly, pointing at the book. "This creature is, is sent for enemies o-o-or targets that the assassins cannot contain or neutralize."

"You mean, when they fail to kill them?" Jonathan asked softly.

"Yes. It, um, makes this, this creature more dangerous than the three normal assassins combined," Giles said softly.

Shocked at the Watcher's statement, even Xander with his newfound Emmett-ish love for new challenges had a pause for thought. He broadcast to the others, 'Well, then, I guess there's only one thing left to ask.'

"What do you need from us?" five voices asked in unison.

"Well…" Giles began to say.

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Sunnydale Mall – 6:00 pm

Buffy looked at the mush that was once a Slurpee, as she started stirring the mush with her straw.

"I shoulda known. Maybe you should introduce yourself to all the monsters around here as Mopey, the Vampire Slayer," said the sarcastic voice of Cordelia Chase.

"Hello, Cordelia," Buffy replied with no enthusiasm whatsoever, looking up at the pissed blonde.

"Look Buffy, I can't say I understand what you're going through, although I'm pretty sure I can beat it," Cordelia said, getting straight to the point. As the sparkle-pire said that she pointed at herself, giving Buffy a clear idea of what she was talking about. Cordy then flicked her hair as she sat down, the same way she always did, causing Harmony to frown not far away; before the new queen of Sunnydale High shook her head in dismissal and she resumed lecturing her Harmonettes.

"Cordy…" Buffy began.

Holding a hand up, Cordy stopped her in her tracks. "No. I get that you're scared after Giles said what he did, but YOU need to know one thing and one thing only. Namely, YOU are not alone; now move your ass, on account of you have a patrol to do!"

Stunned, but unknowingly stomping the fear to bits, Buffy stood and followed the female vampire instead of heading home or to Angel's apartment. Inwardly, Cordelia knew she and Buffy would never speak of what had occurred either now or in the future, but it pleased her to realize that even Buffy Summers was capable of understanding that Cordelia Chase took crap from no one, and was willing to call it as she saw it.

"Vampires of Sunnydale, beware," Queen C snarked, as they left the mall heading to the largest of Sunnyhell's cemeteries.

Twenty minutes later, Cordelia was brushing the dust and ashes off her clothes, growling at the Slayer, "Did you have to dust that sad excuse for a vampire while the wind was blowing MY way?"

"Gee, Cordy, I dunno. Guess I wasn't thinking about that, I WAS kinda busy after all," Buffy snarked back.

Suddenly the wind shifted and Cordelia's head whipped round so fast Buffy almost missed it. Before she could ask what was wrong, though, a female body slammed into Cordelia, bouncing and landing heavily on the ground. Even as the black girl started to deliver a stake to her chest Cordelia whipped her hand out, grasping the attacker by the throat before Buffy could even process what was happening.

"Who are you?" Cordelia growled, holding her attacker motionless.

"I am de Vampire Slayer," the girl gurgled, her Jamaican accent thick as she struggled to move her arm – but failing miserably due to Cordelia's superhuman strength.

"Wait, WHAT? No way, I'm the damned Slayer!" a shocked Buffy yelled.

"I am SHE," the new girl ground out, now turning her glare in Buffy's direction despite Cordelia's hand around her throat.

"Another Slayer?" Cordelia queried as she got up, relaxing her grip slightly, but still holding the now-kicking Slayer.

"Stop. That. Right. Now," Cordelia growled, her eyes growing darker. The black girl froze instantly, knowing she was outmatched and not wanting to die before she could take these two with her.

"No way, this is crazy. Unless – oh wait, were you called back in May?" Buffy asked, after a burst of insight.

"Yes. Why do ya ask?" the newcomer briefly looked confused.

"I get it now. You must be number two," Buffy mused after a moment, motioning Cordy to put the new Slayer down.

After placing her captive on the ground, Cordelia asked Buffy, "What do you mean, number two?"

"The Master," was all that Buffy said, not caring to dwell upon those memories.

Cordelia nodded in response, recalling the story she had heard from Xander. The girl tried to attack again once Cordy let go; but Cordelia grabbed the stake which had simply bounced off her magnificent chest, looking completely unfazed.

"You're not a vampire?" the shocked junior Slayer asked, stunned not so much by what she had witnessed happen but rather than the fact she had made a mistake in classifying her opponent as one of the bumpy forehead crowd.

"Not exactly. Well, I'm not the kind that you know, anyway," Cordelia snarled, pinning one of the black girl's arms behind her back and looking ready to snap it.

"Wait, Cordelia, stop!" Buffy yelled, grabbing the other girl from behind and fixing the former cheerleader with an angry glare.

"Why? She ruined my favorite halter top, AND she just tried to stake me!" Cordelia replied, growling furiously.

"Please, Cordy, don't kill her or anything. As for the clothing issue, I'll buy you a new one," the Chosen One pleaded. Buffy did not like doing that, her nature as the Slayer was screaming at her to simply attack the vampiress; but Miss Summers knew that she was just as outclassed as the newbie Slayer when it came to going up against a sparkle-pire, and reasoning with the incredibly beautiful blonde was the only viable course of action.

Pouting, Cordelia replied, "Fine. I was just gonna scare her a little, anyway."

Buffy glared at her again, as the female vampire returned her attention to the furious black girl in her arms. Buffy then placed a hand on Cordelia's arm and said to the new Slayer, "Promise me that you won't go all wiggy and try that again, 'cause you've seen how fast my friend moves. So let's call a truce to the hostilities, alright? We'll go to my Watcher right now, and sort this all out? Whaddya say?" Buffy asked encouragingly.

Even with the situation she was in, the new girl could only ask one thing. "What is 'wiggy'?"

"It mean no fighting, dummy, or else I show you what I can do to you – before you could even blink," Cordelia responded, squeezing slightly and earning a gasp of pain from the new girl.

"I accept yer terms," the Slayer winced, keeping her eyes on Cordelia.

Putting the black girl down and releasing her, Cordelia grasped the remains of her top in one hand and led the way as the two Slayers trailed behind her.

"I'm Buffy," the older Chosen One said, holding her hand out and ignoring the derisive snort from in front of her.

"Dey call me Kendra," the new girl replied, shaking Buffy's hand.

"So why are you here?"

"My Watcher sent me here ta do my dooty," Kendra replied.

"Why did you attack my friend?"

"I t'ought you and her were vampires."

Buffy couldn't help herself. She smiled and said, "Oh, a swing and a miss for the rookie."

Cordelia laughed it up in front of them. Kendra, for her part, lapsed into silence. She still wasn't sure what was going on here, and secretly hoped that she wasn't being led into a trap.

'Mr. Zabuto never warned me aboot anyt'ing like dis...'

A short while later, as they entered the library through the double doors, everyone looked up. Xander stood and after seeing Cordelia's wardrobe malfunction, he immediately placed his jacket around her shoulders.

'Thanks, Xander,' Cordy thought at him gratefully, definitely appreciating the feel of his hands on her body.

'No problem, Cor. Now what happened?' came the concerned response.

Cordelia quickly filled Xander in as Buffy introduced the new Slayer to the group. Giles stood up, holding his glasses in one hand as he began to pace in front of the two Slayers. Cordelia and Xander refocused in time to hear Giles ask, "You say Samuel Zabuto is your Watcher?"

"Yes sir," Kendra replied, hands behind her back. She had become convinced that all this was for real, as soon as she had met Giles. He and Mr. Zabuto did not look alike physically, but the mannerisms, the accent, the books and everything else had convinced her that he and Buffy truly were with the Council.

"So he's real?" Buffy questioned the British man.

"Oh yes, Buffy, he's real. We've never met, but Mr. Zabuto is a well-respected Watcher," Giles replied.

"So what's your name?" Willow asked Kendra.

"My name is Kendra."

"And, and your last name?" Willow asked, confused.

"I don't have one. Now, who are you?" the Caribbean Slayer demanded.

"I'm Willow. I'm a friend of Buffy's," the red-haired hacker said a little self-consciously.

"Friend?" the confused newcomer echoed.

"Yeah. You know; pal, buddy, chum. Someone you hang out with?" was Xander's slightly aggressive response.

"Xander," a somewhat shocked Giles said reprovingly.

"What? Seriously, was I the only one who saw what Cordy looked like, when she came in here just now?" Xander replied angrily, his feelings for his not-quite-a-girlfriend affecting his judgment to a larger extent than he realized. "I mean, I'm not wrong in assuming that this girl attacked her without any reason, am I?"

"Xander, not now," Cordelia said, placing her hand in his. Deep down, though, she was pleased that her roommate was automatically so defensive of her, and disliked the new arrival because of her actions.

Xander squeezed her hand and sighed. "I don't like what she did to you."

"And you don't have to, but let's hear her out first," Oz replied, holding his hands up at Xander's glare. "I'm just saying."

"Who are you people?" Kendra looked around at the gang in confusion.

Buffy spoke up, "They're my friends, all of 'em. Even Cordelia."

"But dey're civilians! Mr. Giles?" the shocked Kendra said, looked around the table. She was unable to comprehend what she sensed, and sent a frantic questioning glance at Giles.

"Yes, well, Kendra, you see, all these people know Buffy's secret identity as the Slayer, and, um, they, err, socialize together," Giles confessed, looking embarrassed.

"And you allow dis, sir?" Kendra honestly couldn't seem to grasp what she was hearing.

"Well…erm," Giles replied hesitantly. "I, uh, 'allow' isn't exactly the word..."

"De Slayer needs ta work in secret," Kendra said firmly.

"Sure, and yet oddly enough, the Chosen crowd all die within a year or two of service," Xander growled at her, as Cordelia squeezed his hand a little tighter. "Seriously, did it never occur to you that that 'she alone must hunt the vampires' crap is actually part of the problem?"

"Look, I get that all this sounds mondo-weird to you. Totally insane even, maybe. But this is the Hellmouth, and I don't CARE what the rules are supposed to be! I got friends, they help me and they have my back in the fight," Buffy said stiffly, after seeing Kendra glare at Xander. "It's why I'm not dead right now, and there are two of us in existence at the same time."

"I understand dat. Still, dere is much I still do not understand," the younger Slayer stated firmly. Pointing at the redhead and the Watcher, Kendra said, "Mr. Giles and dis Willow person are de only ones here dat feel...normal ta me. All de odders, dey don't feel right. Dey don't feel human."

Glancing around at each other, the gang quickly realized that their guest would have to be told the full story. Giles looked at each of them, and after hearing Xander's voice in his mind giving permission to share the whole story, he looked back towards Kendra.

"Well, you see, i-i-it all began back on Halloween…"

TBC…


	27. Chapter 27: New Allies

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Thank you once more to my amazing and wonderful Beta Starway Man, take a bow my friend.

"Speech"

'Thought'

_'Angelus'_

Chapter 27 – New Allies

Sunnydale High School, Slayer Central – 9 pm, Wednesday

Kendra looked around the room, stunned. Mindful of this, Giles placed a cup of tea before her, which the young woman picked up somewhat shakily.

"You mean to tell me dat dey were all human - but a spell turned dem into werewolves and vampires?" the Jamaican Slayer finally said between heavy gulps of tea.

"Okay, first off, they're my friends and that hasn't changed," Buffy said firmly. "But, basically, you got it."

"Yeah," Willow added, placing her hand in Oz's.

"You...you are his, his mate?" Kendra asked her in shock, glancing between the couple.

"Got a problem with that, Slayer?" the Alpha replied evenly, but almost growling at her. Oz was not prepared to put up with any slight upon his chosen mate, after all.

Willow placed a hand on his arm, calming him down. She then turned back to Kendra and said, "You don't, do you?"

"I…I..." Kendra stuttered, unable to form a coherent reply. Unable to help herself, she started looking around the room to see if there was anything silver she could use, in case the creature came at her.

"You've already seen what Cordelia can do. What do you think the wolf pack can and will do to you, if you decide to go down that road? Don't think you'd make it out of here alive, personally," Xander said, picking up Kendra's thoughts and glaring at her.

"Yeah, well. Dogs do bite, you know," Cordelia snorted.

"Hey, yo, sparkle girl, don't make me bite you," Warren retorted with a small grin.

"I wouldn't. She tastes bad," a grinning Xander said, receiving a glare from Cordy.

"No offense; but you both smell bad, too," quipped Jonathon.

He tutted and wagged his finger even as Levinson deftly caught the book that came flying at his head, courtesy of Xander.

"Children, please," Giles said in a 'tut-tut' tone of voice, hiding a smile as Oz and Andrew chuckled.

"To answer your question, Kendra – they're dating. As for the whole 'mates' thing, that's private stuff between them I guess, I dunno whether Will's gone all the way yet..."

"BUFFY!" Willow yelped, looking mortified and then glaring at Xander; who was looking at the redhead FAR too innocently.

"...and all you need to know is that Oz will do anything to protect her. And the rest of his pack, too. Geez, even I wouldn't be able to stop them, not if they're fighting as a team! So you just gotta suck it up and deal," Buffy said to Kendra irritably.

"I still don't understand. Vampires and werewolves - dey should be mortal enemies," Kendra replied, looking at them. Not understanding how and why the supernatural creatures were laughing as a group, when to her mind they should be fighting each other to the death.

"Is that what your Watcher says has to happen, just outta interest?" Cordelia glared at the Caribbean girl. "Because I pride myself on setting the trend, ya know, not following it!"

Gulping, Kendra looked to Giles - who nodded, and spoke in her defense to the Scoobies.

"All of you, please listen and try to understand. Insofar as I can tell, Kendra has been raised by the Council, that is...trained from near birth as a potential Slayer to fight the forces of darkness, if she were ever to be Called. Things are...very black and white to her, to borrow an expression. And, and werewolves and vampires do fight to the death, as you very well know, so please do try and make allowances for her world-view. It's not all that far from the truth, actually."

Huffing, Cordy folded her arms and glared once more at the new Slayer - who followed suit, unsurprisingly, by Buffy.

"Well, if she's gonna be sticking around here, then all I can say is - Kendra, you need to get used to reality. Not the party line those hoity-toity jerks from England have been spoon-feeding you, or whatever," Buffy said angrily, as she stood up.

"Where are you going, Buffy?" Giles asked worriedly.

"Patrol, like you're always telling me to do. Y'know, instead of having a life?" the blonde girl snapped, before storming out through the doors.

Cordelia just looked at Xander, who sighed and nodded. In the blink of an eye the female sparkle-pire was gone, leaving behind a baffled Watcher - and an even more shocked junior Slayer.

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Spike's Warehouse, Sunnydale Industrial District – Midnight, Thursday

Laughing gleefully, Spike bought his fist up and slammed it into the nose of his captive once again. With the crunching of bone and a spray of blood, the captive's head whipped aside to the left.

Spitting blood on to the floor, Angel briefly cursed the man named Willy to the deeper-most pits of hell, vowing to kick that scrawny bartender-slash-snitch into next year when he got free. Bloodied and battered beyond almost recognition, Angel then growled and spat at his grandchilde. "Spike..."

"You didn't know I had Fyarl demons on my payroll, ya big poof? Well, I did – plus I paid that human blood bag to get you here. Slayer won't figure where you are for a few days, at least," William the Bloody boasted, before swiping viciously at Angel's chest with his claws.

"When I get out of these chains, Spike..." Angel growled again, as blooded dripped from his wounds onto the floor.

Grinning viciously, Spike gleefully replied, "Ha! Don't think so, mate. Not like it was in the old days, when I was all 'see Slayer, kill Slayer, party all night afterwards'. Different now, innit? You're gonna be my sweet Dru's medicine, you are. Hell, maybe she'll come play with you later. She's been ranting about her Daddy lately, y'know..."

Yanking the chains higher so that Angel's arms were extend painfully above his head, Spike suddenly left the room, singing loudly and laughing uproariously in celebration.

Dangling helplessly, Angel looked at the floor - hoping that Buffy was patrolling, and that she would beat the truth out of the Willy before the ritual to restore Drusilla to full health took place. He knew the odds were against it, though, and settled in for what he knew was going to be a rough ride.

_'Heh, boyo, you hafta admit - I sure trained 'im good,' _Angelus jeered within Angel's mindscape, trapped in his cage as he had been for nearly a century.

'Shove it, you,' Angel replied, mentally rattling the cage bars.

'_Why? Just givin' credit where it's due, Liam. Willy's all grown up now, just as I knew would happen one day. There was a reason I taught him everything I knew, remember? Dru was just a trophy, Penn was pretty much nothing but a disappointment – Spike, he's the real heir to my legacy...'_

Shaking his head to clear away the maniacal laughter of the demon within, Angel tried to concentrate, his thoughts turning to getting himself loose as quickly as possible.

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Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale – 9 am

The school bell rang throughout the campus as students jostled their way to classes - or in the cases of the junior and senior year students, to the Career Fair seminars. Joining the throng of kids Buffy, Giles and Kendra walked down a set of stairs as the bell abruptly switched off.

"I, uh, I've conferred with Mr. Zabuto. And he's in full agreement that until this matter with Drusilla has been attended to, that-that you and Buffy should work together," Giles said to Kendra.

"Yeah, that'll be a treat," Buffy said sarcastically.

Her sarcasm lost on Kendra, or otherwise ignored entirely, the Jamaican girl turned to Giles and asked, "You believe dis Spike character wishes ta restore Drusilla's health?"

"I suspect that is what your Watcher was referring to when he mentioned the 'coming darkness', so, err, yes I do," Giles replied.

"Den we should kill Spike, and de problem will be solved," Kendra stated vehemently.

Mocking laughter erupted out of Buffy at once. Puzzled by the bond she could see forming between her Watcher and the new girl Buffy said mockingly, "Oh, yay, let's go. Charge!"

Seemingly not hearing his charge, Giles replied to Kendra's question, "It is, uh, somewhat more complicated than that, I'm afraid – you see, Kendra, Spike has called in The Order Of Taraka to keep Buffy out of the way, as it were."

"I know of dem. Dey are an ancient order of assassins, I read of dem in the writings of Dramius," Kendra nodded.

"Oh? Which volume was it?" Giles asked, intrigued to hear her research.

"I t'ink it was number six, sir," she replied respectfully.

"No free time, much?" Buffy snarked, getting tired of being ignored by the geek duo.

Giles turned and glared at her disapprovingly. Buffy instantly shrank a little under his gaze, not used to getting such a reprimand from her Watcher.

"It is study, it is required. De handbook demands it," replied the younger Slayer.

"Handbook? What handbook?" Buffy queried at once, looking puzzled.

"Oh, yes, well, after meeting you, Buffy, I-I-I realized the handbook would be of no use," the British man replied gently.

"Hey! What the...what do you mean, no use?" Buffy stammered, looking somewhat insulted.

Giles did not pay attention to the question, as he was asking if Kendra could show him where in Dramius volume six the material on the Order of Taraka was located. As they laughed about something amusing (to them), a subdued Buffy lagged behind Giles and Kendra, lost in her own thoughts. It was at times like this she really disliked the fact that Willow now had a boyfriend and Xander had his own thing going with Cordelia (and major ewww, there!).

What exactly that 'thing' was, Buffy wasn't sure; but she knew teenage boys, and how there was practically only one thing which they ever thought about. Add in how Xander and Cordelia had been living together for weeks, well - if there was still nothing going on between them in a few more weeks, then she'd start a vampire fan club...

'Well, at least they're both back in school again,' Buffy thought to herself. 'I just hope Xander and Cordelia can keep themselves under control, or whatever. And thank God nobody asked too many questions, about where those two really came from...'

Giles finally noticed her lagging behind them as he turned to his Slayer and said, "Oh, Buffy. Principal Snyder was looking for you."

Sighing, Buffy replied, "The career fair, right."

"Perhaps you better make an appearance?"

Buffy nodded and veered off, as Kendra and Giles headed away without her. Buffy then heard Giles laugh at something Kendra had said, and promptly decided to ignore them.

"Dat Buffy girl, she's a student here?" Kendra queried.

"Yes, very much so."

"Next, you will tell me dat she is a cheerleader as well," Kendra replied in amusement.

"Well, actually, that's quite the funny story..." Giles said as they turned a corner. Not far away, Buffy finally arrived at the main site for the Career Fair.

"Buffy!" the young woman heard her name called. As soon as her best friend arrived, Buffy and Willow began discussing the new Slayer.

"I mean with Kendra, although she is way annoying...I may be able to have a normal life now, with her around," Buffy said musingly.

"Like visiting Disney World?" Willow asked.

"Nah, at least not long-term. I think that would get boring after a while," Buffy shook her head. "Gah, she is so irritating though. I mean, hahaha, volume six, hahaha!"

"Buffy, don't worry. You'll always be Giles's favorite," soothed Willow. She then smiled as she saw Oz and his pack in the hallway.

"Hey babe," Oz said in his own monosyllabic way, as he reached them.

Willow snuggled up to him briefly, but then they saw Snyder approaching. Warren slung his arm around Buffy and said jocularly, "Hey Buffy, what are you going for?"

Smiling slightly at the werewolf, the Slayer nonetheless reached up and removed his arm as Snyder changed direction, spotting something he disliked not far away. Buffy replied, "Well, my tests say I'm suited for either Law Enforcement or Environmental Designs."

"That's landscaping, right?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, but that's also yesterday, so Law Enforcement it is," she quipped in reply.

"Cool. Well, nothing to worry about here, everyone checks out," Oz said, tapping the side of his nose.

"What?" Buffy questioned him.

"While you're in danger, the Alpha fem...I mean, Willow's also in danger, therefore we guard," Andrew said, going a little red.

"Well, thanks I guess. So, what did you guys get back on your tests?" Willow asked, patting Andrew reassuringly.

"Gardener," Warren said with a grimace.

"ICT," Jonathon added.

"Military officer," Andrew said, grinning shyly.

"Well, you do make a good Beta, and they said military for me too," Oz said, slugging Andrew on the shoulder.

'Oz in the military? With his laid-back attitude, constantly changing hair color and the whole Dingoes Ate My Baby thing he's got going? I was right all along, these things really are totally hokey – not to mention, a complete waste of time!' Buffy thought to herself cynically.

"So, are you guys gonna go?" Willow asked her boyfriend and his pack.

Kissing her head, Oz reassured her, "No. Anything that takes me away from you right now, it's a no go. Pack is pack."

"What about you guys?" Buffy asked Warren, Andrew and Jonathan, not liking the thought of...well, slavery.

"It's not slavery, Buff. They have a choice in what they do, ya know," a familiar voice said from behind her, making Buffy jump. Turning, she saw Xander waving at her cheekily. 'God, I hate it when he does that!'

"He's right, they DO have a choice. My pack comes to me without compulsion," Oz said flatly, not liking the implied statement from Buffy.

Buffy blushed. "Sorry, Oz, I just…I mean, open mouth insert foot, ya know?"

"Yeah. No big, though. I mean, if Willow didn't want to date, I'd still look after her as a friend," the very tall Alpha wolf shrugged.

"No, no, no! Uh, dating is good. More than good," Willow stammered, grabbing him tight. 'Please don't break up with me!'

"Urgh, little smelly troll at three o'clock," Andrew said in a low tone of voice.

"Hmmm. Miss Rosenberg, may I suggest you let go of Mr. Osborne - before either of you get detention?"

Sighing as one, the group turned. Principal Snyder, bane of all Sunnydale High students everywhere, glared at the werewolf and his mate. Staring back, the Alpha quickly kissed Willow on the cheek and then removed his arm from around her torso, as slow as he dared.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere else, Summers?" Snyder then turned his wrathful attention to the Slayer.

"Yes, Principal Snyder, sir. Bye, guys!" Buffy said hurriedly.

Everyone waved as she left to head towards the Law Enforcement booth. Once the little Hitler had left, Oz nodded at the three members of his pack; who spread themselves out through the fair. Xander left to do his own thing...

Buff weaved her way through the crowded hallway to sign her name at the Law Enforcement booth. Once she had signed, she noticed Oz walking towards her with Willow by his side. She then heard a low whistle no one else seemingly heard. Turning, she saw a grinning Xander who was standing next to a bored-looking Cordelia.

'Wow, Cordelia actually bothered to show up?' Buffy asked herself somewhat cattily.

'Yes she did,' Xander replied, the grin vanishing. 'And does that really surprise you, Buff? The fact that my roommate and I actually care whether you live or die?'

Blushing again, Buffy looked down, unable to meet Xander's eyes any longer. "Buffy Summers?" she then heard her name called.

Turning to stare at a female police officer with a clipboard, the Chosen One raised a hand - and then without warning, the fake cop pulled her gun from its holster and aimed it at her.

'Oh, BIG mistake!' Buffy thought to herself angrily, before she darted forward pushing the upraised gun into the air.

"GUN!" Buffy heard several students yell frantically, the words reverberating down the hallway.

A single gunshot filled the room, as the students screamed and ran frantically for cover immediately. Gripping the woman's wrist as hard as she dared, Buffy swept the assassin's feet from under her as she twisted the fake cop's hand viciously. The gun flew away, luckily not discharging again as Oz kicked it aside when it landed close to him and Willow.

"Buffy, look out!" Willow yelled. She had seen the fake Police Lady (whose name was Patrice) get loose and produce yet another gun from an ankle holster.

The woman took aim again at Buffy, but by this point Xander and Cordelia were moving. Faster than mortal eyes could follow, they had grabbed Patrice and vanished out of sight. As a result, all the students just looked around in dumbfounded disbelief.

"Was, was this supposed to be part of a demonstration, o-of some sort?" a kid named Lance Brooks stammered, wondering what the heck had just happened.

'SHIT! This bitch just committed suicide!' Xander's angry voice was suddenly heard by the rest of the Scooby Gang. 'I can't believe it, she actually had one of those fake teeth in her mouth, like the kind you see in the movies - it musta been filled with cyanide or something!'

'Did you get a chance to learn anything?' Buffy asked mentally, as Willow, Oz, Warren, Andrew and Jonathan joined her.

'Nada. Everyone, meet us in the library ASAP – we gotta figure out what our next step is,' Xander broadcast to the rest of the group.

'Gee, ya think?!' Cordelia's acidic voice sounded full of anger and annoyance.

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Sunnydale High, Slayer Central – 11 am

"They found the fake Police Lady at Sunnydale General, where Xander and Cordy dropped her off," Buffy said, as she appeared through the big doors.

"Was there a definite cause of death determined?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, kinda interested in knowing that myself," Oz added.

"I dunno. But I'm willing to bet cyanide capsule, like Xander said," Buffy replied.

The conversation was interrupted by Warren calling them over to the main research table. The rest of the enlarged Scooby Gang were pouring over books on the Order Of Taraka, as well as searching for information on Du Lac rituals. Kendra stood nearby, observing them silently.

"I think we found something," Warren said, as the others approached the table.

"It says here the vampire healing ritual Josephus Du Lac came up with, it requires a Sire; whatever that is," Jonathan said.

"A Sire is the original vampire whoever created the, err, undead individual in question," Giles replied helpfully.

"Great, undead mommies and daddies," said a disgusted Andrew.

"Um, sire, I...I know who Drusilla's Sire is," a scared-looking Buffy said.

'She's scared for Angel, for some reason,' Cordelia broadcast, figuring out what that look on Buffy's face meant.

'Yeah, color me surprised,' a slightly disgusted Xander thought back.

'You know, dweeb, you could sound a little less jealous,' came the annoyed reply from the former cheerleader.

'Hey, I'm not jealous of that walking corpse! Well, not anymore, anyway. It's just that she's the Slayer; he should be the Slayee,' the young man shot back.

'Why, just 'cause you say so? Think about it, Harris. By that logic, Buffy should also be attempting to slay US!' Cordelia thought at him huffily.

'That wasn't what I meant, and you know it! Geez, why is it that even after everything that's happened between us since Halloween, you're never on MY side?' Xander demanded.

'Oh please, the day I'm on your side is the day you finally get a fashion sense!' Cordelia mentally sniffed at him. 'And that reminds me, we need to go shopping after all this over. Not only for clothes, but blood and other supplies - our little home sweet home doesn't just look after itself, ya know!'

Xander mentally groaned, feeling like a henpecked boyfriend without any of the fringe benefits. But then he and Cordy focused on the conversation at hand, just in time to hear Buffy admit that Angel was Drusilla's Sire, from back when he was Angelus.

"Great. Just friggin' wonderful; that means Deadboy's a target, and so we gotta keep him safe from the undead nut job and her boyfriend. Just one question, Buff; WHY did we not know any of this before now?" Xander asked angrily.

"Well, I thought it didn't matter," Buffy shot back at him in annoyance.

"Or else you didn't want to give me and Xander another reason to dust the guy," Cordelia said tactlessly, causing Buffy to glare at her.

"Wait, so if Drusilla is Angel's childe..." Giles began to say.

"Childe?" Andrew asked at once.

"A vampire's offspring, so to speak. And according to my research, Drusilla in turn sired Spike," Giles added.

"WHAT?!" came the aghast voices from several members of the gang.

"Oh, this just gets better and better! First Deadboy gets himself a daughter, and now he's a grandpa as well. This is just GREAT!" Xander snarled, throwing his hands up in the air. "What's next, we find out the guy's a great-grandfather as well? God knows he's certainly old enough..."

"HEY, that's my boyfriend you're talking about! So knock it off with the Angel bashing, Xander - got it?!" Buffy yelled angrily, looking around at him.

Xander opened his mouth to tell Buffy exactly what he thought of her orders - but then Cordelia shook her head silently, warning him not to speak. Trusting her judgment despite their minor mental spat earlier on, Xander just nodded and thought mean, nasty thoughts about the Slayer in question. The compulsion to do so however was not shared by Kendra.

"Angelus is a vampire, as is dis Spike and Drusilla. And unlike your friends here…" Kendra pointed at Xander and Cordelia, "…all t'ree are de kind of vampires it's our dooty ta Slay. Dat's why we should be killing dem all, not helping one of dem," the junior Slayer proclaimed.

Eyes alight with fire, Buffy stepped over to Kendra and into her personal space. "Look, lemme put this in a way you can understand. You've got your priorities, I've got mine. Namely, NOBODY hurts my boyfriend!" growled the Slayer. "Not even you. Understand? Try anything in that direction, and you'll be sorry! But as far as I'm concerned, you can go nuts on Spike and Drusilla - so are you gonna help me kill them, or not?"

Sighing, the younger Slayer saw there was no reasoning with her older counterpart and replied, "Very well, I am wit' you."

Seeing and yet not quite believing the behavior of the elder Slayer, the Pack and the sparkle-pires started conversing amongst themselves.

'Hard to believe she's actually willing to do this for a walking dust bunny,' Oz said silently, even as Willow glanced at him in concern.

'Preaching to the choir, bro,' Xander replied darkly.

'I hate to say it, but if Angel is all that Buffy can think about, then we need to protect the rest of the town if she and Kendra won't,' Cordelia hypothesized.

'Agreed,' Warren and Andrew and Jonathon replied in unison.

'Plus, contingency plan. Worst case scenario, if Angel end up dust, we need to be prepared for Buffy's reaction to that,' Xander said musingly.

'What do you mean?' Andrew asked.

But Xander didn't reply. Watching until the two Slayers disappeared into the Watcher's office to talk and to prepare, Harris and the rest of the Scooby gang quickly turned their attention back to the research problem, namely trying to figure where the ritual was going to take place later tonight.

No one wanted a lunatic like Drusilla restored to full health, after all; what with her precognitive powers, there was literally no telling WHAT she might accomplish...

TBC...


	28. Chapter 28: To Battle

Thank you once more to my amazing and wonderful Beta Starway Man. Take a bow my friend.

"Speech"

"Speech"

'Thought'

_'Angelus'_

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Chapter 28 – To Battle

Spike's Lair – 3:30 pm, Thursday

"Spikeyyyyy?" came the song like voice of William the Bloody's beloved.

"In here, my sweet!" came the British vampire's triumphant reply.

Entering through a door, the loony vampiress squealed at her present. Bound to their bed was her Sire. Panting and gasping, the bloodied and beaten form of her not-quite-daddy glared at Spike.

"Ooooooh Spikey, is he mine, can I play?" Dru gleefully clapped, bouncing up and down like a child on Christmas Day.

"Now, now, ducks, you can play - but DON'T kill him," the platinum-haired vampire warned her.

"Why?" Drusilla pouted as Angel looked up at her.

"Because, luv, we need him intact for tonight, 'member?" Spike replied, wrapping his arms around her.

"The full moon," Dru moaned, trailing her fingers down Spike's chest.

"Yes, my dark goddess, we're going to make you all better," Spike cooed, stroking her arms.

Gleefully laughing, Drusilla let go and walked over to the bound Angel. Slapping him viciously, she said, "You've been a bad daddy, you 'ave!" Her Chislehurst accent thickened as she admonished him.

"Dru…I-" Angel started to say.

"Bite your tongue," Drusilla cut him off, gnashing her teeth, slashing her nails across his chest; opening newly healed wounds and causing new ones.

Whirling around, Drusilla picked a glass decanter. Circling around the bed, she said softly, her voice filled with pain, "Do you know what my mummy liked to eat? Hmmm, do you? Lemons, Daddy, lemons, she used to pull such funny faces."

"My Pa liked peaches, he used to eat them with sugar on top," she continued.

"They did until YOU RIPPED THEIR THROATS OUT!" the vampiress suddenly screamed, Drusilla's insanity now clear for anyone to see.

Lunging at her Sire, she threw the decanter contents onto the prone Angel. The ensouled vampire screamed in pure agony as the holy water hit bare skin - singing, burning and blistering him badly. Soulless and evil though they were, the resident minions nonetheless scurried away from the room, as Angel's agonized screams reverberated around the factory.

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Sunnydale High Library, Slayer Central – 7:00 pm

"HAHAHA, I AM THE BUG MAN!" came the founding Scooby's cry.

Rolling her eyes at Xander as he held a large tome aloft, Cordelia nonetheless hid a fond smile at his antics. Kendra glanced through the office window where Buffy and she were cleaning weapons. The new Slayer was hanging back after a little accident with a crossbow.

Or as Buffy had put it, "Kendra killed the bad lamp".

"That's him," Cordelia said quickly, as Xander showed the others the picture.

"And the good news is, I'm pretty sure he's no longer an issue – not after we squished him to bits," Xander added, grinning like a loon.

"What's with you and bug people nowadays, Xander?" Willow quipped from her seat at the library's computer workstation, smirking at a now sniggering Cordelia.

"Hey, it's not a thing, it's not!" cried an indignant Xander, looking between the girls.

"Hey guys, I found something too," Andrew said, turning the book slightly.

"Whoa! I thought vamps couldn't go into churches?" Jonathon said, his expression wide-eyed.

Oz just raised an eyebrow, looking at Giles.

"Myth. For the most part," Giles said firmly, placing a hand on the back of Willow's chair and leaning forward.

"There are 43 churches in Sunnydale," Willow said, after a few moments of searching City Hall's intranet.

"That's my girl," Oz grinned proudly.

The other pack members rushed over to the Alpha's mate grinning, slinging themselves at her feet chanting, "WE'RE NOT WORTHY, WE'RE NOT WORTHY!"

A blushing Willow giggled, "Stop it, you three!" as a chuckling Oz shooed them away.

"Sorry, babe. Boys will be boys," Oz said, kissing her forehead.

"No puppy chow for you bad doggies," Willow wagged her finger at the now-pouting werewolves, who mock whimpered.

"Forty-three churches? A bit excessive, hmm, it has to be the Hellmouth effect," Giles said, a little shocked as he viewed the sheer number of churches within the town limits. Still, for a town with roughly 38,500 people that was roughly the size of Santa Barbara, it wasn't all THAT many.

"Clock's tickin'. How do we narrow down the search, Giles?" Xander asked, sobering up.

"We…I think we should look for any of them that are, um, undergoing renovations, those that are closed and any churches that are, ah, a-abandoned, derelict," Giles replied after a moment's thought.

"What if we smell them out instead?" Jonathon asked.

"What do you mean, you – oh. Your, um, werewolf sense of smell, to find the vampires?" Giles queried.

"Yeah, Mr. Giles, precisely. I get what you're getting at, Jon-boy," Warren said, looking at Jonathon as he jumped down from the table he was sitting on eagerly.

"Yeah, well, I figured we could sniff out Spike, or even pick up Angel's scent," Jonathon replied, as eager as his pack brother to get going.

"He's right, and, uh, Xander and Cordelia could do that too," Andrew said, nodding at the two cold ones.

"Good idea, Beta," Jonathon nodded, his eyes bright with excitement.

"It that alright?" Giles asked, looking to Oz.

Shrugging, the Alpha replied, "If the pack says go, we go."

Xander nodded, looking less than enthusiastic but knowing it was pointless to say anything about Angel not being worth it at this late date. "Let's do this, then."

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Presbytery Church Of Sunnydale –11:55 pm

Buffy stared at the church they'd learned held her one true love. Her sister Slayer started in surprise when she heard growling came from her left. Turning slightly, she saw Oz. The russet-haired giant stepped forward, followed by the rest of the pack - each of them now the size of rather large horses. Kendra stared in awe as the werewolves approached from the darkness.

"Ready?" Buffy asked grimly.

"I am," Kendra's automatic reply snapped her attention back to Buffy.

"Good," the elder Chosen One said, before she charged forward - unwilling to wait any longer.

"Buffy, wait!" Xander yelped, as she started off. Ignoring him, the two Slayers disappeared into the building.

The furious werewolf pack growled and snapped their jaws. Xander and Cordelia shook their heads, both astounded by the impetuous, reckless charge of the Slayers.

'STUPID SLAYER!' Oz fumed.

'Buffy's gonna get herself killed and US,' Andrew growled.

'And all for a walking dust bunny too?' an astonished Jonathon added.

'She's a FOOL!' Cordelia hissed, joining the condemnation.

'We'll hafta deal with that issue later, people,' Xander broadcast as calmly as he could, as apart from Willow he was the only one who really understood how Buffy felt about her boyfriend. He ran, catching up to Cordelia and overtaking the pack.

'Count on it!' Warren snarled.

The group entered the church as stealthily as possible, only to see Angel bound at the altar together with a female vamp they assumed to be Drusilla. Spike was blocking access to the altar and his attention was focused on Kendra.

"Who the 'ell are you?" he demanded, as Spike fought the Jamaican Slayer.

"It's your lucky day," Buffy replied, as she fought one of Spike's minions.

"Two Slayers for de price of one," Kendra quipped, throwing a punch at Spike.

Ducking the punch, Spike glanced behind at the altar for less than a moment. Angel's strength was being leached out of him, in order to heal Dru. Grinning wolfishly, he kicked out at the younger Slayer - taking her legs out from under her, as he threw the black girl into a pillar. As Buffy finished off her opponent, she decided to take on Spike and gave Kendra some much-needed respite. Punches were thrown, kicks resounded on bodies and grunts rebounded from the walls as the combatants fought.

'Wait, guys, what are we doing? We're the secret weapon, me and Cor will go first,' Xander thought to the others.

Oz nodded his agreement as the two 'secret weapons' blurred into motion. As a nearby church rang in the new day with the midnight bells, Spike whirled as two blurs (even to his undead eyesight) took out all of his undead minions - astonishing the head of the Aurelius coven.

"What the bleedin' 'ell, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TWO?" Spike roared after punching Buffy aside and the battle came to a standstill.

"Oh, us? We're new in town," Xander grinned, recalling Parent-Teacher Night and how this vampire had nearly fed on him then. 'Kinda weird how I don't even remotely fear him anymore! Oh yeah, me like...'

"Yeah, can you say 'new sheriff in town'?" Cordelia quipped.

"You're not vampires, you smell like...well, bugger me, I dunno what you smell like! So what the 'ell are you two?!" Spike demanded, looking aghast at the flawless, marble-colored and extremely deadly beings in front of him.

"As if I'm gonna give you all the answers, like some stupid comic character! I mean, even putting aside the lack of fashion sense, and your fugly-looking face," Cordelia sneered at him. "All right, you three, get him! We'll get Angel..."

At once, the three giant werewolves went on the attack; but before they could take on Spike, they had to deal with a further six minions who smashed through the stained glass windows into the church. Snapping out of his stupor, Spike barely avoided a flying stake sent at him by Buffy, and then he failed to defend against a kick to the chest by Kendra. Flying backwards, taking out several pews, Spike nonetheless staggered to his feet.

"NOW!" he roared, as even MORE vampire minions poured in and engaged in battle. It looked like Angelus had been right all along, Spike truly WAS the heir to his legacy...

"That's the sodding trouble with you Slayer bints, you never stop 'n think. You reckon the Order only sent three of their killers fer hire? Ya think that's all I was willing to shell out for? Nah, they sent sommat special for you and your mutts. Oh yeah, I've known about your puppies for a while, just didn't know who they belonged to. Not like I couldn't smell 'em a mile off, though!" William the Bloody yelled, as the battle raged.

He turned to Xander and Cordelia, wondering for a microsecond why they looked so bloody familiar. Well, Spike couldn't be blamed for thinking that, the Twilight movies containing Emmett and Rosalie Cullen (who Xander and Cordelia now resembled) were somewhat popular entertainment even amongst the undead.

"And that includes you two, whatever the effin' heck you are. I knew you were gonna come 'ere tonight, I just knew it!" He jabbed a finger towards the newcomers angrily.

"Coulda fooled me," Xander snarked, as Buffy released Angel from his bondage; she yanked out the Du Lac Cross, causing Dru to scream in pain, and then she twisted the holy icon into a shapeless gold mess, useless to anyone.

"NO!" Spike screamed, Angel and Drusilla falling to the floor as the chains binding them were ripped apart by the male sparkle-pire. "That's it. You're gonna get it now, mate! LET IT LOOSE!" he bellowed.

Spike, after viciously kicking Buffy clear across the room, rushed to the altar and grabbed his dark love as Xander and Cordy started taking on the minions. The remaining minions, those that were not fighting, instantly ran for their undead lives. It wasn't long before the rest of them decided that cowardice was the better part of discretion, and did likewise.

"Sorry baby, gotta go, I hope it was enough..." Spike said urgently, cradling Drusilla in his arms and dashing for the exit. Despite the fact that the three werewolves were standing directly in his way.

The next second, the Scooby Gang (and Kendra) stopped and turned as something HUGE roared at the entrance to the abandoned church. Smashing aside anything in its path, a ten-foot-tall stone behemoth soon appeared.

'The Goliath Giles warned us about,' Warren said worriedly.

'Remember what the book man said, guys,' Oz replied, as Warren and Jonathon rushed the Goliath.

'What about the dust bunny?' Andrew asked quickly, awaiting his Alpha's orders as his brother werewolves were brushed aside with casual ease.

'Me and you will take him, if we get the opportunity,' Oz replied.

'Xander, NOW!' Cordelia cried, dispatching her last soulless vampire.

"What is dat?" Kendra croaked in surprise, staring at the Goliath in awe. Despite all her reading, she had never even heard of anything like this...thing.

Xander rushed at his opponent with a gleeful battle cry. The Goliath, however, swung a melon-sized fist, slapping the teen across the room and taking out a pillar. Slapping Warren and Jonathon aside yet again, the Goliath stomped forward.

'Xander!' Cordelia screamed silently, rushing forward. Her heart on her sleeve, almost, all she could think about was her fallen roommate – the same way that all Buffy could think about was Angel, whom the Slayer was slowly crawling towards.

Roaring, the blonde female vampire threw all her undead strength behind a punch as she reached the vile creature. The Goliath's arm crumbled under the attack, causing a ear-shattering roar from the huge behemoth. But that was soon followed by chunks of debris flying in all directions, as Xander blasted his way clear of the rubble. Growling furiously, Harris sped forward in a timeless blur and took out the Goliath's other arm, which smashed into another pillar.

Spike couldn't believe it, as he struggled to fend off Kendra whilst carrying Drusilla. 'Sod it, what the bleeding 'ell did all that money get me? Nothing, that's what! Gonna have to deal with those wankers from the Order soon 'nuff, 'bout sendin' me shoddy goods...'

While he was busy avoiding the Chosen One, the werewolf pack and the sparkle-pires all surged forward as one; and although the Goliath was still deadly dangerous, despite the missing arms, he was outmatched against all six supernatural creatures at once, and he knew it.

Still, the Goliath fought. There was nothing else he could do. It was hard-wired into him.

'Think I broke something,' Jonathon winced, getting to his paws after the behemoth had belted him aside once more.

'Me too,' Warren replied, likewise wincing.

The two werewolves nonetheless charged the hulking creature again, working in tandem with their brothers and the two sparkle-pires. Spike meanwhile finally ran out of luck, as Kendra sent him flying away like a discarded toy. Soaring across the room, Spike grunted as he hit a pillar. Still grasping the unconscious Drusilla, he plucked a torch from its holder and threw it at one of the werewolves, hoping to cause a distraction and give the Goliath a fighting chance to win.

It worked; howling in pain as the torch hit him, burning his face, Andrew snarled and lunged for the vampire in question. Hitting the floor with a grunt and only just managing to avoid those huge canine jaws, Spike was forced to drop Drusilla as gently as he could.

'Andy, you alright?' Warren asked, distracted.

'I'm fine, I can deal,' Andrew gasped, as Oz defended his injured Beta.

"Gah, bloody dogs!" Spike snarled, holding Oz at arm's length and slamming his fist onto the wolf's head.

Shaking off the pain, Andrew lunged again, trying to bite Spike's head off. Growling, the game-faced vampire bit the werewolf's ear savagely instead.

'OWWWWW!' echoed Andrew's pain-filled cry.

'Andrew!' Warren and Jonathon yelled instinctively, distracted yet again from the fight against the Goliath.

'You good Andy' asked Oz concerned.

'It's okay, guys, no venom!' Andrew replied, getting seriously pissed off with the Cockney vampire.

'Oh yeah,' came the sheepish reply.

Trying another tactic, Oz managed to yank Spike away from his Beta, slamming the vampire to the floor. Using all his undead strength Spike kicked the Alpha viciously earning a yelp, allowing him to get free. As Spike threw an uppercut at Andrew, causing a loud yelp, he proceeded to try and choke Oz to death. Around them, another pillar support crumbled as Xander and Cordelia kept going in their battle, truly challenged against an opponent for the first time since the Twilight-esque Halloween makeover.

Through all the commotion, dodging swings from the Goliath and fighting her way to the altar, Kendra reached the altar and helped Buffy raise the insensate Angel up off the floor.

"Let's get him out of here," was all that Kendra said to her mystical sibling, unable to pretend she was happy about this; but knowing the other Chosen One wouldn't leave without him.

"Thanks," Buffy replied sincerely.

They dragged the unconscious vamp towards the no-longer-recognizable entrance between them, even as another stone pillar collapsed. They reached Cordelia and Xander and the wolf pack, who were surrounded by the steaming rocks that was the remains of the Goliath. Blearily, Buffy noticed the werewolves were battered and bleeding, even if Xander and Cordelia only had torn clothing. Suddenly, a rumble sounded from above.

'The roof's about to hit us, EVERYBODY OUT!' Warren shouted.

"Buffy, Kendra, RUN!" Xander yelled, yanking the girls and their unconscious cargo forward.

'Guys, the whole building's gonna go! Move it, fast as you can!' Oz yelled silently.

Everybody ran for the exit as the building indeed starting falling down all around them. Oz and Andrew snarled at Spike, promising to settle accounts another time – before they turned and leapt over pews in an effort to escape, as the debris rained upon them, ignoring their pain and injuries as they ran.

As the building trembled the bloodied and battered Spike looked up, before he picked up Drusilla and ran towards the back exit. 'Gotta get out, almost there...'

Spike grunted in relief, it looked like he'd just made it. But even as he reached the doors...with a loud rumble the ceiling, pillars, windows all of it - came crashing down around him, and buried both him and his Sire in an avalanche of stone and wood.

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Presbytery Church Of Sunnydale – 12:50 am, Friday

Anyone looking at the remains of the church Spike had chosen to perform the healing ritual would have been amazed that some of the walls were still standing. Luckily for anyone human in Sunnydale, though, no observers were near the church - and for good reason.

"Spoike?" came the muffled voice of a woman with a British accent.

Thrusting her way clear of the debris she was buried under, the newly-healed Drusilla began to search for her favourite childe. After a few minutes of digging through the rubble, she smelled Spike in she spotted a pale hand sticking out from a pile of stones.

Grinning animalistically, Dru grasped the hand and hoisted the broken and lifeless body of Spike up into the air. Holding him aloft, his feet off the floor, Drusilla slung one arm around her neck almost carelessly.

Triumphantly she declared, "Don't worry, dear heart. I'll see that you get strong again...just. Like. Me!"

The crazed vampiress made her way into the night, holding her beloved and heading back to their lair. Humming a tune which no one born after the 19th century would recognize, Drusilla sashayed away into the darkness.

A new age of terror was about to descend upon the Hellmouth...

A/N: More next time, folks. Especially the aftermath of the battle, where Xander and Cordelia are concerned...


	29. Chapter 29: Cupids Arrow Finds It's Mark

A/N: Hi and welcome to the latest chapter. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing the story! Please keep the feedback coming. Now, I'm a single woman who has never been in a BTVS-style relationship, so forgive me if the romance angle isn't absolutely perfect; but anyway, here goes. By the way, I wanted to give you a link to be able to visualize Cordelia and Xander's new sofa/couch/whatever, but the site refused to let me do it! Which blows, let me tell you...

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

_'Angelus'_

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Chapter 29 – Cupid's Arrow Finds Its Mark

Cordelia and Xander's Home, once known as The Sunset Club – 1:00 am, Friday

Cordelia got into the shower almost as soon as she and Xander arrived home, letting the hot water flow over her. Letting out a low moan, the young woman relaxed; relieved that the night was finally over. Still, as she washed her hair, her thoughts turned to the recent battle with the Goliath at that abandoned church.

As much as she would have preferred not to, Cordelia found that she could not help feeling fear over what might have happened to Xander, had the Goliath not been outnumbered and outgunned, not so long ago.

'I don't know what I'd do if I lost him,' Cordelia thought to herself with a sigh, the water cascading down her naked body as she scrubbed and rinsed off the dirt and grime thoroughly. 'God damn it, if I _had_ lost the big dweeb tonight, I'd be a complete blubbering mess right now! Well, I suppose there's no point trying to avoid it any longer. I need to tell him how I really feel about him,' Cordy thought to herself, recalling what had happened just a few hours before.

Namely, herself panicking at the sight of Xander getting slammed into that pillar, and becoming terrified of the dork getting his head crushed under that pile of stone falling on top of him.

Finishing her shower and getting dressed, Cordelia entered their living room down in the basement. Seeing Xander sprawled out on the leather couch she'd insisted they buy with their ill-gotten gains mugging evil demons and vampires, Cordelia exhaled in annoyance.

The big jerk was watching Star Trek 2009 on their home entertainment system, and what was more, he was getting the furniture all dirty – thanks to not changing his damn clothes after the battle!

"Xander!" the Chase girl scolded him at once. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Huh?" Xander didn't even look at her, too engrossed in watching both Spock's talking to each other near the end of the film.

Cordelia angrily switched off the TV, causing Xander to yelp, "HEY! I was watching that!"

"Yeah, not to mention ignoring me," Cordelia growled, kicking his legs off the couch. "Go take a shower, Geekboy! And afterwards, make sure you put your dirty clothes in the laundry hamper. This isn't a damn hotel, and I'm not your maid!"

"Okay, fine, whatever," Harris scowled, as he got up and headed upstairs. 'If I didn't know better, I'd swear that it was that time of the month for her...'

Cordelia waited until he was gone, and then started to clean the couch in order to get rid of the (to her) disgusting odor. It was times like this the female sparkle-pire hated just how sensitive her sense of smell had become, and just how easily her slob of a roommate could stink up the place! Well, she had insisted on making him pay HER price when they'd bought the damn thing, so instead of just a cheap sofa they now possessed an American Heritage Lassiters Sectional, in Edinburg Tanager red leather.

Interesting historical sidebar, but Xander's jaw had dropped almost to the floor at the astronomical price the salesman had quoted; although in the end, like almost any other man he'd groaned, moaned and then agreed to buy it. Not only did he know that Cordy would have never stopped complaining if he hadn't, but Harris liked the feel of the darn thing as much as she did, as evidenced by his comfortable use of the couch watching the latest Star Trek movie.

Soon enough, Xander came back downstairs into the living room, mildly astonished that the former Queen C was still fussing with the furniture, cleaning a few things and straightening others. 'Still kinda hard for me to believe she'd actually do stuff like that; but then again, it's not like she has the Chase family maid to do all these things for her anymore...'

"Hey, Cor, you okay?" he asked in concern, stopping in the middle of the room.

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" she replied, putting down a photograph of Xander, Buffy and Willow that had been taken last year. 'I should put up some photos of my own, come to think of it. Because this is _my_ place, just as much as it is his!'

"Okay, missy, that's it. Something's wrong! You're actually doing housework, without complaining about the injustice of it all? Now spill," Xander ordered her in no uncertain terms.

Cordelia briefly cursed the fact that Harris knew her so well nowadays. "Ermm, Xander, I…I need to tell you something," Cordelia said, swallowing the sudden lump in her throat and sitting down beside him.

'Is she planning to move out? No, no, odds are she doesn't want me to stay here anymore, she's gonna tell me to leave - and not let the door hit my ass on the way out! But why? Did I do something to offend her? Wait, she can't be _that_ mad about the couch, can she?' Xander thought to himself, starting to panic.

"I can change, Cordy, please don't ask me to leave, I'm sorry!" Xander blurted out, panicked at the thought of having to get his own place and losing his current roommate.

"Xander! I wasn't planning on asking you to hit the road, okay? And I'm not planning to move out either, not after all the effort I've put into making this place habitable for the both of us to live in. So calm down!" Cordelia ordered him with a strong hint of exasperation in her voice.

'Oh, thank God,' Xander thought in sheer relief, before his mouth shifted back into gear. "So what is it? You wanna remodel or redecorate the place again? Sweetheart, in case you haven't noticed, our finances are kinda limited! And I know you still have issues about inviting people over to our home-"

"Xander, will you please SHUT UP and just let me say what I have to say?!" Cordy semi-pleaded, despite the exasperated growl in her voice. She then thought to herself, 'I swear, sometimes I wonder whether or not I've gone crazy falling for you!'

Nodding, Xander sat down on the couch opposite the blonde girl, and waited for her to begin. Wringing her hands, Cordelia took a deep breath and nervously began.

"TonightsortamademerealizehowmuchyoumeantomeandIlo veyouandhavedoneforawhilenow," she said in one big whoosh.

"What?" Xander blinked stupidly. "Uh, can ya slow down and run all that past me again, Cor? Thing is I can understand Willow-babble, but I don't speak Cordelia-Flash."

Cordelia looked annoyed at the mention of a certain redhead; someone who, up until a month ago, had been fixated on Xander to the point of wanting to become Mrs. Harris one day. "I said, tonight – well, uh, what happened in that abandoned church. When you fought the Goliath and all, I...it, it sorta made me realize how much you mean to me, that I…I have feelings for you. I have done for a while now, I guess – maybe ever since you saved me from getting killed in that fire, a few months ago."

"You have feelings for me?" Xander echoed numbly.

'He doesn't feel the same way, oh God, he doesn't want me,' Cordelia thought in horror. "Okay, forget I said anything, this was obviously a mistake-"

"NO, WAIT!" Xander took Cordelia's hand and held it tightly, preventing her from getting up and leaving. He looked deep into her eyes and asked softly, "Okay, Cordelia. Honesty time. You have feelings for me. What _kind_ of feelings, though? Are we talkin' gratitude? Friendship? Lack of disgust, or-"

"No, you freaking MORON! I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!" Cordelia screamed, her emotions seething and turbulent as she made that particular startling admission. Something that, in another world, she would have never admitted to anyone except Buffy – and far too late to avoid Xander cheating on her with Willow.

"Whoa," Xander looked completely freaked as he heard those words come from the lips of the woman who looked like Rosalie Hale Cullen. "I mean, uh, wow. I just, um, you really...are you sure? I mean, if it's the memories of what Rosalie felt for Emmett..."

"It's been weeks since Halloween, you freaking idiot!" Cordelia snarled at him, and yet oddly, she did not pull away her hand from his. "And do you really think her memories could influence me THAT much? Sure, back at the start, when we were living with Giles for those first three days, I was wanting to jump your bones thanks to Rosalie's feelings for Emmett; but we've both said it often enough since then. I'm not her, and you're not him! My God, is it just totally _inconceivable_ for you to think that Cordelia Chase could actually love someone other than herself? Sure, you're still the same loser you've always been underneath the Emmett-shaped surface, and it's hard even for me to be believe that I actually fell in love with someone like you-"

Leaning forward as soon as he heard that, and secretly hoping she wouldn't thump him one for taking such liberties, Xander instantly shut her up as he grabbed her head and captured Cordelia's lips with his own. Given the wonderful benefit of not needing to breathe, they kissed for nearly three minutes – exploring each other's mouths and bodies, holding each other tight in that dark basement apartment.

"Wow," Cordelia gasped, as she finally let go and stared at Xander in astonishment.

"I'll second that wow, but - wanna try for 'holey moley'?" Harris grinned at her.

Shaking her head at the Xander-ism, Cordelia nonetheless grasped the front of his shirt tightly and immediately pulled him closer to her. Gently probing for entrance, Xander's tongue opened her mouth and slid inside. As they kissed, wrapped around each other, Cordelia gasped - heat suddenly flooding through her stomach.

As Xander lowered her down onto her back on the sofa, Cordelia stopped, gently pushing him away and looking embarrassed as the young woman straightened up. "Wait! Hold up. I mean, slow down! Because I've confessed how I feel about you, but - how do you feel about me?"

Rubbing her hands gently he reassured her, "Cordelia. I've known you all my life! Sure, for most of that time we've hated each other..."

"Hey, I didn't hate you! I felt disgust and near-loathing, maybe, but not actual hatred!" Cordelia protested, making Xander smirk at her choice of words.

"Well, whatever. Point is I knew who you were then, and I know who you are now. And despite the fact how you still annoy the shit out of me on occasion, over the past few weeks I think – no, I'm _sure_ I've slowly started to fall in love with you, the same way you did with me."

Not all that far away, the twelve-year-old Dawn Summers suddenly felt a chill as she started tossing and turning in bed. But knowing nothing of the little girl's feelings concerning her Harris-shaped crush, Cordelia's unbeating heart soared with happiness at hearing those words coming from the object of her own affections.

Naturally, she kissed him again before saying, "I...sorta have something else I need to tell you."

"What is it, babe?" Xander said, brushing the hair from her cheek gently.

"Well, I'll kill you if you ever mention this to anyone, _including _Buffy and Willow, but I've never actually…" Cordelia trailed off hesitantly.

'Never actually...oh! She's a virgin?' Xander thought in astonishment, by now he had hung around teenage girls often enough to know what they were saying without actually saying it. 'Wow, guess all those locker room stories really were just that – stories!' "Cordy. Come on! We're not even seventeen years old yet, so it's not exactly surprising if you haven't, y'know," he replied sincerely.

"Really?" Cordelia looked shocked.

"Yeah. Truth is, I haven't either," Xander confessed, hoping she wouldn't laugh at him for that.

"Well, that's hardly surprising where you're concerned," Cordelia said tactlessly. "I mean, you told me that story about how you were almost eaten as a virgin sacrifice last year by that so-called Ms. French, remember? Plus, I know how you haven't dated anyone at all this year! But getting back to me, I mean all those boys I've dated...well, despite the rumors..."

"Cordelia. I know. Even when we…well, you know. But just so you know, I never thought that of you. Ever. Well, almost never," he said shyly.

"What?" Cordelia demanded.

"Devon. Your boyfriend? Uh, former, anyway. Guy who's dating Harmony nowadays," Xander explained hurriedly.

"What about him?!" Cordelia seethed angrily.

"Well, there was that one time I couldn't help wondering, y'know, when you started ranting about him having moved on so quickly, before you could even get a note to him about you two breaking up," Xander explained delicately. "But, uh, getting back to our previous topic, like I was saying...my birthday's not for another month, and yours isn't for a month after that. Technically, we're still sixteen at the moment. And I know I'm totally sounding like a girl here, but the way I figure it, the sex can wait..."

"Hey! Getting a little presumptuous there, aren't you pal? I mean, all I said was that I loved you, there was _nothing_ mentioned about letting you get pelvic with me," Cordelia said, calming down from her previous annoyance that Xander might have considered her some sort of slut.

"Uh, yeah! You're right, you're - you're absolutely right. Sorry, I guess my mouth totally sorta just-" Xander started to babble, feeling the onset of a panic attack.

Snuggling into his arms, Cordelia quickly and gently kissed his lips. She then said, "Relax, dumbass! And just so you know, it doesn't matter if we don't need to sleep anymore; we are so _definitely_ buying a bed, eventually, in order for you-know-what..."

Returning the kiss, Xander finally knew what heaven on earth felt like. After their make-out session was over they settled into the sofa, spending the next few hours cuddled together; sharing kisses and watching DVD's, only separating for Xander to change the movie every few hours. All the while, Xander couldn't help thinking he'd finally hit the jackpot, so to speak; that the Hellmouth's evil and malicious influence had finally dispersed around him, and that the higher powers had glanced in his direction and said, **'hey, dude, sorry for all the crap you've been going through since Halloween, not to mention your entire frickin' life before that particular evening. So here's our restitution prize, in order to make up for it**.'

It felt so natural – so _right _– to hold Cordelia in his arms like this. How much of that was due to what they'd inherited from Emmett and Rosalie Cullen, Xander wasn't sure; but for now, at least, he was happy that he had a beautiful woman in his life, and one who didn't object to the boner she could no doubt feel poking her as he held her tightly.

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Around 7:30 am, they were interrupted by Xander's cell phone buzzing. With a groan at the intrusion, Xander showed Cordy the caller ID. She shrugged and nodded, gesturing for him to answer it.

"Hey, Oz, what's up?" Xander asked. Snuggling into his side with his arm around her, Cordelia could hear Oz's response as well as if she'd been holding the phone up to her own ear.

"We need to talk about last night, Xander," Oz said his usual terse way.

"I kinda figured. Do you wanna meet at The Lair?" Xander asked, just as tersely.

"Yeah, you and Cordelia, we've got some animal blood handy for you both," Oz replied.

"Okay. Be there in a few. Bye."

With Oz's farewell, Xander disconnected and put the phone back in his pocket. "You heard?"

Cordelia sighed with a pout, "I don't wanna get up."

Xander hauled her to her feet anyway. "I know, babe, but we gotta talk to Oz's pack sooner rather than later. You saw it just like I did, they were fuming last night after Buffy left to take Deadboy home," he said, before kissing her gently.

Cordelia instantly deepened the kiss, it seemed like now that they were finally together in a real relationship - she simply couldn't get enough of her new boyfriend! Eventually they broke apart, though. "I know. I mean, even Giles was a little upset when I told him what had happened, before we came home," Cordelia said, as they locked the front door and headed off to The Lair.

Jonathan was waiting outside The Lair when they arrived a few seconds later, his bronzed skin shining in the morning sun. Levinson took one look at them, and quickly guessed the truth; but he also guessed that it was none of his business, and resolved to say nothing unless the two cold ones mentioned it first.

"Hey guys, glad you're here. Everyone else is inside. You ready for a blast? 'Cause Oz destroyed half the gym, along with Andy and Warren," he said cheerfully.

"You help?" Xander asked simply.

"Only a little," Jonathan said with a remarkably straight face.

Chuckling, they walked into the big kitchen. Cordelia couldn't help noticing the table was groaning under the weight of enough food to feed a small army! They then greeted the werewolf pack as Oz, Warren and Andrew joined them. Jonathan piled food onto his plate while Andrew brought Xander and Cordelia their blood.

"So, Oz, what exactly did you want to talk about?" Xander said, getting straight to the point.

"Last night, Buffy put my pack at risk. Ditto you two, and the new Slayer," Oz replied.

"All over a damn dust bunny!" Warren snarled, smashing his fist on the table leaving a dent in heavy wooden oak.

"Take it easy, Warren," Oz commanded, making a calming gesture and the subordinate werewolf nodded meekly.

"Still, he has a point. Buffy only thought about Angel, and the hell with everything else," Andrew said.

"Yeah! Look, I don't mind fighting and dying for something I believe in, but I'm not gonna do it for something that isn't worth risking my neck over! I mean, okay, stopping those Spike and Drusilla characters, totally on board with that. But saving that Angel guy at the expense of everything else, the way Buffy did – well, I'm not the only one who thinks that's totally screwed up, right?" Jonathan asked.

"No you're not, no argument here," Xander said, finishing off the blood in his mug. Then he sighed, "But we gotta keep things in perspective, pal."

"What do you mean?" Andrew asked, pausing in between stuffing his face with food.

Xander exchanged a look with Cordelia, who nodded and said simply, "Willow."

Oz went very still. "What about her?"

"She's Buffy's best friend, and she's totally on board with the Buffy 'n Angel smoochies," Xander said with a grimace. "Anyone says anything bad about Deadboy, they're gonna alienate her straightaway. And if you keep badmouthing him, you'll drive her further and further away...maybe to the point of no return."

The pack glanced at the Alpha, who simply nodded. "Will and I have already had that conversation."

"Plus, don't forget that for now, it's just the six of us. People who don't qualify as human anymore. Buffy has Giles in her corner, and he has that Council organization backing him up. So if push comes to shove and everybody has to choose which side of the line to stand on, then he'll line up with the freakazoid; she's his Slayer, that's like a complete no-brainer! And I for one don't want to eventually have to deal with a hit squad from jolly old England, or whatever," Cordelia flipped her hair to one side as she said that, automatically reaching for Xander's hand.

"I think Cordelia's right. So I guess it's like we said before, we need to protect the townspeople if Buffy won't," Oz said, looking at Xander's girlfriend and sensing the same thing as the rest of his pack. 'About time they hooked up, and quit messing around,' the Alpha thought to himself, and his boys agreed.

"Yeah. I mean, we're all nearly healed, although my face was a mess all last night. Giles had some cream, which helped," Andrew said, munching on a pancake.

"Xander, Cordelia, you should let Buffy know that I won't let the pack do something like that for her again. And that it's gonna be a few days before we're all back at 100%," Oz said.

Sighing, Xander nodded. "I get where you're comin' from, I really do. But Buffy, and to some extent Willow and Giles, they think that Angel isn't dangerous, that should be treated like one of us. But he isn't, I've read the journals-"

"Journals?" Oz asked at once, raising an eyebrow.

'Nice going, dumbass, I thought we agreed to sit on that for a while longer?' Cordelia snapped at him mentally.

'Sorry babe, didn't think,' Xander inwardly cringed.

'Well, naturally! But it's done, dweeb, so we gotta be honest now. Go ahead and tell 'em!'

"Yeah," Xander replied to Oz's question without any detectable delay. "Last year, when we first found out what he really was? Giles did the Research Boy angle on Angel, y'know, during the old days - when he was soulless and evil and all Scourge of Europe-y. Guy got some major neck in his day," Harris said cautiously.

"Go ahead, dork, tell them the rest," Cordelia said softly.

"Yeah please do," Oz said emotionlessly, folding his arms and sitting back in his chair.

Sighing, Xander began outlining all that the demon known as Angelus had done before the soul of the Irishman named Liam had been returned. The trail of devastation and destruction left in his wake, until the curse was cast upon him by the Kalderash gypsy clan. His time as a part of The Whirlwind, a dangerous and sadistic group of undead feared almost everywhere in Europe.

"This dude has one hell of a history," Warren mused.

"Soul or otherwise, he's dangerous. Especially to Willow," Oz growled.

"Yeah, well, from what I read, we're looking at the most dangerous psychopath known to man being restrained by some kinda gypsy magic," Xander shrugged.

"Either that, or he had the greatest PR team of the 19th century working for him," his girlfriend added in her own special Cordelia-esque way.

"What if he reconnects with The Whirlwind?" Andrew asked.

Xander's horrified look was noticed by everyone present immediately. But Cordelia asked, "Wait, Xander - didn't you say this Darla person end up dust last year?"

"Yeah, Deadboy staked her in order to save Buffy's life. Killed his own sire for her, which like it or not, does earn him some points in my book," Xander replied, standing and crossing to the window. Folding his arms, he began to pace.

"Still, just so you know, Angelus was the thinker, the guy who was always two steps ahead of everyone else. Darla was the boss, Drusilla was the deranged early warning system, and Spike…he was the muscle, more than anything else. Well, they also called him Angelus's protégée," Cordelia said, having read the Watcher diaries for herself.

"How long have you two known all this?" Warren suddenly demanded, looking angry.

"HEY, don't you take that tone with me!" Cordelia snapped. "It's been three days, alright?"

"Take it easy, Cor, it's a fair enough question. And the reason we didn't tell you guys before now is because we were waiting for the right time," Xander said, placing an arms around Cordelia's shoulders. "It's all ancient history, after all, and I'm sure things change over a hundred years or so. Could be that none of it's really relevant anymore, not after all this time."

"I understand. And Warren, apologize. Now," Oz commanded.

"Sorry guys, guess I'm just really protective since Halloween, especially with Pack," Warren said rather bashfully.

Softening her features, Cordelia said, "Yeah, I get that. Quil was a really protective and loyal guy, I suppose I'd be kinda mad too in your shoes."

"Does Willow know about any of this?" Oz asked softly.

"Doubt it. She…she's Willow, you know, she likes the guy. I figure she's read some of the Watcher diaries like Cordy and I did, but sorta just skipped over everything Overbite got up to for 150 years before the curse. In order not to have to deal with the fact that her best friend is locking lips with an undead serial killer! I think it'd take something, I dunno, _apocalyptic_ for Will to ever see Angel as a bad guy," Xander replied honestly. And far more accurately than even he knew.

Sighing, Oz agreed. "She does tend to think the best of others."

"So what are you gonna do?" Cordelia asked Oz gently.

"What can I do? I can't tell her what to think, or who to stay away from…and I can't just kill Angel out of hand, I'd lose Willow forever if my pack and I did that. I guess all I can do is be there for her, if the guy ever goes all Big Bad again," he said thickly.

"Has SHE read the Watcher books?" Warren growled.

Xander sighed and shook his head, knowing perfectly well who Warren meant by 'she'.

"Let me guess, doesn't care?" Jonathan snarked.

"Buffy's sixteen, and she's in love with the handsome, mysterious, older guy in her life. What do you think?" Cordelia asked scathingly.

"I think we should try and keep Buffy and him apart," Andrew said, trying to come up with scenarios. "Nothing overt, just give her enough space to maybe see that there are other fish in the sea."

"Sounds good to me, but how?" asked Jonathan.

"Ermmm, guys, what about herding vamps towards them so that she has to deal with 'em rather than make out with the walking corpse, she has to slay around him and not get all gross and stuff?" Warren said carefully.

The kitchen fell into deep silence for a few moments.

"That's risky. We'd be endangering Buffy's life, if nothing else," Xander said with a frown, not exactly liking that plan much.

"Plus, it would only work for a short while. I mean Buffy's not stupid, she'd see through the ploy sooner or later," Cordelia added.

"Yeah, you're right, it would only work for a while. Probably not long enough. We're gonna have to come up with other ideas," Warren said thoughtfully.

"We could always pay Spike to keep her busy, assuming he survived what happened last night?" Xander said jokingly. "Just kidding!" Harris added hastily, after receiving five glares in response.

"Yeah, well, not funny, Geekboy," Cordelia said, slapping him on the back of the head.

"Hey, and owwww!" Xander cringed. What with her undead strength, Cordelia's blow had been a little too painful to be considered 'playful'.

The wolf pack just smiled at the twisted little PDA, all of them trying to find solutions to this new dilemma. A thought suddenly occurred to Andrew, though, as he laughed at Xander and Cordelia's behaviour along with Jonathan. "Hey boss, if Willow asks - are you going to tell her about this conversation?"

"He doesn't need to, the books are all there for her to look at. On the shelves, and in the G-man's book cage," Xander said, seeing Oz's worry. "If the subject of Angel should ever come up, we can just tell her to read the truth for herself about what the guy was like as a soulless monster."

"Thanks, Xander," Oz replied, looking relieved.

"Hey, guys? I don't mean to bust up the meeting, but it's already half-past eight. And today's a school day," Jonathan said, after a quick glance at his watch.

They all agreed to meet later and discuss The Whirlwind with Giles. Xander and Cordelia offered to clean up while the Pack grabbed their gear. Washing dishes at sparkle-pire speed took him and Cordy almost no time at all to get the job done, and it amused Harris to think the domestic act was a nice way for everyone to see his girlfriend as a person, rather than a spoiled diva.

Oz offered to drive them all as his van was big enough, but Xander and Cordelia declined. They could get to Sunnydale High much faster on foot. Later, driving to the school, Oz wondered what the following week would bring. He hoped the situation would remain calm and peaceful.

How pointless that hope would soon prove to be...

TBC...


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